Assured Spot Ether ETF Approval Fails to Stir Slumping Crypto Market

Ether saw a 1% rise due to the latest news update, but this proved to be a deceitful bump as its value plummeted by over 3% within an hour. Currently, ether is being traded at $3,440, representing a 5% decrease in its value over the last 24 hours. The CoinDesk 20 Index also followed suit with a 4.9% decline during this timeframe.

As a researcher studying financial markets, I’ve observed that the market trend took a turn for the worse around Wednesday afternoon. The Federal Reserve’s policy meeting results, which kept the benchmark fed funds rate range unchanged at 5.25%-5.50%, came as a surprise due to their hawkish tone. Initially, markets had anticipated multiple 25 basis point rate cuts in 2024 based on futures market data. However, the updated Fed projections indicated only one such reduction was expected. Consequently, rate futures markets have adjusted their expectations accordingly.

As an analyst, I would interpret the U.S. economic data released Thursday morning as follows: The crypto market’s mood did not show any signs of improvement, with the data suggesting a persistent softening in both inflation and the economy. Contrary to expectations, the Producer Price Index (PPI) decreased by 0.2% instead of rising by 0.1%. On an annual basis, PPI registered a smaller increase of 2.2%, falling short of the anticipated 2.5% growth. Additionally, initial jobless claims unexpectedly surged to almost a one-year high of 242,000, exceeding predictions for a weekly decrease to 225,000.