Ethereum
Ether Slides to $66,000; Ether Steady Ahead of Spot ETF Launch By Investing.com
Investing.com– Bitcoin prices fell Tuesday as a weekend rally petered out amid growing uncertainty over the U.S. presidential race, with traders now awaiting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s next speech.
The world’s No. 2 token Ether also fell, seeing little positive trading even as the Securities and Exchange Commission approved six spot Ether ETFs to begin trading later in the day.
The token fell 1.8% over the past 24 hours to $66,425.7 as of 09:12 ET (13:12 GMT). The token had climbed as high as $69,000 over the weekend but stalled on Monday.
fell 0.2% to $3,495.58, with the token expected to see some selling as major ETF issuers prepare to launch their spot offerings.
Bitcoin rebound stalls, Trump speech expected
The world’s largest cryptocurrency extended losses for a second session as the weekend rally stalled. The weekend rally was driven mainly by lower trading volumes.
Still, Bitcoin has made some gains over the past week as speculation of a Trump presidency has raised hopes for a more favorable regulatory environment.
Trump is scheduled to speak at the Bitcoin conference in Nashville this Saturday. The Republican candidate has maintained a pro-crypto stance during his recent campaign, and his campaign is also accepting cryptocurrency donations.
But uncertainty about Trump’s prospects has grown after President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 election, instead endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee.
Harris received enough support from Democratic delegates to be elected as the presidential candidate, but he has yet to be formally nominated.
According to CBS and HarrisX polls from last week, Trump is ahead of Biden and Harrison in the polls. But it’s unclear how the polls will fare with Biden’s resignation, given that some analysts expect Harris to fare better than Trump as a presidential candidate.
Cryptocurrency Prices Today: Ether ETF About to Launch, Altcoins Struggle
Ether fell as the SEC approved six different applications for a cash ETF on U.S. markets, which are expected to begin trading from Tuesday.
The launch comes nearly six months after Bitcoin spot ETFs were approved for US markets. While the launch provided an initial boost to Bitcoin, propelling it to record highs in March, the token has since hovered around $60,000 for the most part, while ETF trading volumes have also declined.
Additionally, Ether could face some selling pressure as Ether trust operator Grayscale, which is set to convert the trust into a spot ETF, has raised $1 billion of the token on exchanges.
Other altcoins followed Bitcoin and Ether’s losses, falling 3.2% and 4.2%, respectively, while rising 3.6%.
Among meme tokens, they lost 4%, while they slipped 5.3%.
BTC Options Implied Volatility Rises Ahead of Trump’s Appearance at Bitcoin 2024
According to market analysts, the current volatility in bitcoin can be partly attributed to Donald Trump’s upcoming appearance at the Nashville Bitcoin conference this weekend.
“Out-of-the-money options prices have increased significantly, indicating that more extreme market moves are expected,” QCP Capital analysts said in a note. The higher demand and higher prices for these options reflect a general sense of anticipation among market participants.
This sentiment is also evident in Bitcoin options open interest on Deribit, where options implied volatility has increased from 53% to 67% over the past week, according to data from the derivatives exchange.
Several other key events could also contribute to market volatility, including inflows into bitcoin cash exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and Thursday’s release of U.S. GDP and personal consumption expenditures price index reports.