Crypto Markets Muted Ahead Of U.S. Economic Data

RTT Staff Writer•Thursday, August 29, 2024•3 min read

Crypto market sentiment remains subdued even as markets wait for updates on GDP growth and initial jobless claims from the U.S. that is seen significantly influencing the Fed’s monetary policy outlook. The second estimate of the second quarter GDP as well as the weekly data on initial jobless claims are due on Thursday morning.

Advance estimates by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released in July had shown the American economy expanded at an annualized 2.8 percent in the second quarter, versus 1.4 percent in the first quarter and 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal. The data assumes significance as global markets including the crypto market had witnessed a sudden meltdown as well as a dramatic rebound in the first week of August amidst concerns about a recessionary freefall in the United States.

Also, of keen interest to markets bracing for a rate cut by the Fed in September is the update on initial jobless claims for the week ended August 24. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the U.S. is seen steady at 232 thousand in the past week. It was 232 thousand during the week ended August 17, 228 thousand for the week ended August 10 and 234 thousand for the week ended August 3. The data on the number of workers applying for unemployment benefits for the first time following job loss tracks emerging joblessness and is a leading indicator of the labor market. The data assumes significance given Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s acknowledgement at the Jackson Hole speech that the Fed’s focus has shifted to the downside risks to employment rather than inflation.

Amidst the uncertainty surrounding the monetary policy outlook, overall crypto market capitalization has slipped 0.17 percent overnight to $2.1 trillion.

Meme category crypto market cap dropped 0.50 percent overnight, dragged down by the losses in 6 of the 9 cryptocurrencies ranked within the overall top 100. 8th ranked Dogecoin (DOGE), the top ranked meme crypto recorded an overnight decline of 0.21 percent.

AI & Big Data category recorded an overnight decline of 1.6 percent in market capitalization amidst a decline in share price of chipmaker NVIDIA despite earnings and guidance surpassing estimates. The decline in NVIDIA moderated the outlook on the wider tech sector and spilled over to the AI segment in crypto sphere. 19th ranked NEAR Protocol (NEAR), ranked as the most valuable cryptocurrency in the AI & Big data category saw market capitalization erode by more than 2 percent in the past 24 hours.

The NFT & Collectibles category recorded an overnight decline of 2.6 percent in market capitalization. The move comes amidst OpenSea receiving a Wells Notice from the SEC implying an intention to take enforcement action against the company. OpenSea is a non-fungible token marketplace that offers users the ability to buy, sell, create, and trade NFTs. 27th ranked Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) that tops the cryptocurrencies in the category has tumbled 9.6 percent overnight.

Bitcoin has edged down 0.01 percent overnight to trade at $59,732.14, around 19 percent below the all-time high. BTC has lost 2.4 percent in the past week dragging down year-to-date gains to 41 percent. The original cryptocurrency traded between $60,174.55 and $57,890.68 in the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin Spot ETF products in the U.S. witnessed outflows of $105 million, down from $127 million a day earlier. For the second day in a row, Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) topped the outflows. However, outflows have reduced to $59 million from the record outflows of $102 million on Tuesday. As was the case on Tuesday, no ETF recorded net inflows on Wednesday.

Ethereum gained 0.8 percent in the past 24 hours to trade at $2,545.18, around 48 percent below the previous peak. Weekly losses are close to 3.4 percent whereas gains in 2024 are a little over 11.5 percent. Ether traded between $2,558.80 and $2,457.87 in the past 24 hours.

Ether Spot ETF products surprisingly rebounded with inflows of $5.9 million as compared with outflows of $3.4 million a day earlier. Net inflows were last recorded on August 14.

4th ranked BNB (BNB) edged down 0.02 percent overnight to trade at $543.02. 5th ranked Solana (SOL) erased 1.1 percent overnight and is currently changing hands at $145.48. 7th ranked XRP (XRP) declined 0.82 percent overnight to trade at $0.5738. 8th ranked Dogecoin (DOGE) edged down 0.21 percent overnight to trade at $0.1008. 9th ranked Toncoin (TON) rallied 1.4 percent overnight to trade at $5.58. 10th ranked TRON (TRX) edged up 0.2 percent overnight and is currently being traded at $0.1597.

57th ranked Helium (HNT) topped overnight gains among the top 100 cryptocurrencies with a surge of more than 10 percent. 80th ranked DOGS (DOGS) is the greatest laggard on an overnight basis after recording a decline of more than 10 percent.

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