Top cryptocurrencies were mixed ahead of Monday’s US equities open following Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the country’s presidential race, sparking hope among crypto enthusiasts for a Donald Trump win, which they believe could benefit the industry.
Bitcoin (BTC) was up more than 0.5% in the past 24 hours, trading at $67,375 recently, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Ethereum (ETH) fell 0.4% to $3,491 while solana (SOL), the fifth-biggest token by market cap, was up 3.7% to $179.22.
Solana may be the next crypto to underpin US-listed exchange-traded funds after ethereum. The Cboe said five spot price ethereum ETFs will begin trading Tuesday, “pending regulatory effectiveness.”
The total global crypto market cap increased more than 0.5% to $2.45 trillion. The CoinDesk Market Index, which tracks digital assets, was up 0.8% in the past 24 hours.
The US government currently holds about 212,800 BTC, valued at around $15 billion, in contrast to its $600 billion in gold reserves, said Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, in a note Sunday.
“If Trump announced that bitcoin would play a much larger role within the US financial reserve management, then the US Treasury would be on board, which would have large implications for the crypto industry,” he wrote. Trump will make an appearance at an industry conference in Nashville next week.
The 11 US-traded spot price bitcoin ETFs last week saw total net inflows of almost $1.2 billion, according to data compiled by Farside Investors.
Key data this week includes Tuesday’s June existing home sales report from the National Association of Realtors and S&P Global’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, scheduled for release Wednesday. On Thursday, the first reading of second-quarter economic growth will be released and on Friday, personal income and outlays for June — including the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of consumer inflation — will be released.
Policymakers are quiet ahead of next week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting. No change in rates is expected then, however, there’s an almost 92% probability of a September cut to a target rate between 5% to 5.25%, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
