Article by BitpushNews:
The crypto market experienced a downturn on Wednesday, following the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes.
According to data from Bitpush Terminal, Bitcoin fluctuated between $69,190 and $70,685 during the day. At the time of writing, the trading price of Bitcoin was $69,107.04, with a 24-hour decrease of 0.68%. Ethereum also retreated from its nine-week high of $3,840, stabilizing below $3,800, with a 24-hour decrease similar to Bitcoin.
Altcoins gave back some of their recent gains, with the top 200 tokens experiencing more losses than gains on Wednesday.
Among the rising tokens, ConstitutionDAO (PEOPLE) saw the largest increase, rising 33.8% to $0.0648, followed by DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON (DOG) with a 31.4% increase, and Livepeer (LPT) with a 16.5% increase. The largest decrease was seen in Lido DAO, down 6.9%, followed by Nervos Network (CKB) with a 6.7% decrease, and ssv.network (SSV) with a 5.9% decrease.
The current total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies is $2.59 trillion, with Bitcoin’s dominance rate at 53.2%.
At the close of trading, the S&P, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq all fell, with decreases of 0.27%, 0.51%, and 0.18%, respectively.
The meeting minutes revealed concerns about the loose environment and policy uncertainties.
Despite the Ethereum ETF narrative supporting the crypto market, escalating geopolitical tensions and uncertainty surrounding the Fed’s interest rate cuts remain significant influencing factors.
The minutes of the Fed’s May meeting were described as “hawkish.” According to the latest minutes, although officials still believe that interest rates are high enough to curb economic activity and reduce inflation, they suggested that they are less certain about the extent of policy restrictions. Some officials mentioned that if inflation risks make tightening policies reasonable, they would be willing to further tighten policies.
Nick Timiraos, a reporter for the “Fed’s megaphone,” wrote that due to setbacks in inflation progress, Fed officials expect a longer wait for interest rate cuts.
Secure Digital Markets analysts stated, “Despite some outperformance by tokens like MYRO and WIF, Bitcoin (BTC) continues to follow the market’s correction. Bitcoin’s price seems to be heading towards the $67,000 – $69,000 range.”
Neil Roarty, an analyst at Stocklytics, commented on the approval of an Ethereum ETF in the United States, stating that it is crucial for the token as it could lead to wider adoption and a significant price increase. However, he warned, “There are still uncertainties surrounding Ethereum and the broader Ethereum blockchain. First and foremost, we are waiting for confirmation from the SEC. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether Ether should be classified as a security rather than a commodity. If it is indeed deemed a security, the subsequent regulatory blow could undermine Ethereum’s plans to bring cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to the masses.”
Kadan Stadelmann, Chief Technology Officer of Komodo, stated, “The SEC’s stance on ETH is meaningless.” In a report, he said, “For years, the operation of the crypto industry has assumed that ETH is a commodity. If staking could jeopardize ETH’s classification, why doesn’t the SEC clarify this before ETH transitions to PoS? When a group of baby boomers and rookies try to regulate something they don’t understand, this is the result.”
Greg Taylor, Chief Investment Officer of Purpose Investments in Canada, remains optimistic about this development. He stated on the X platform, “I not only hope that the SEC makes a ruling favorable to the launch of a spot Ethereum ETF, but also welcome it. Seeing our neighbor embrace this innovation means more people will have a secure and reliable way to access the Ethereum ecosystem.”
Ganesh Swami, CEO and Co-founder of Covalent, believes that from a broader perspective, the news about an Ethereum ETF indicates an increasing acceptance of cryptocurrencies on Wall Street. He added, “Institutions are starting to understand how much money custody providers, stablecoins, and digital assets as a whole have made, and they want to get involved. With the approval of a BTC ETF, we have seen cryptocurrency becoming increasingly legitimized by TradFi giants. If the ETH ETF is approved, Ethereum may follow the same pattern as Bitcoin. Just as we saw after the approval of the BTC ETF, the market will shift towards a positive direction due to traders being in a ‘buy the news’ moment, leading to increased buying activity and a substantial increase in the price of Ethereum.”
Swami stated, “Another important thing to note is that the SEC’s attitude towards an ETH ETF has made a 180-degree turn, which may be due to political reasons. With the approaching 2024 elections, those in power want to secure votes in different areas, including the cryptocurrency industry. This also demonstrates how much influence cryptocurrencies have gained since the last election, as candidates are now vying for the industry’s favor. Overall, this is a very positive moment for the cryptocurrency market and a time to anticipate tokens reaching new all-time highs.”
