Investing.com-- Bitcoin’s price steadied on Thursday after pulling back from recent highs as anticipation of a tight presidential election and relatively higher U.S. interest rates kept traders averse towards crypto.
Crypto trading volumes were also mostly subdued amid increased risk aversion, while overnight losses in stock markets also provided middling cues to crypto markets. Most altcoins also tracked muted moves in Bitcoin, while Solana rallied past its peers on increased activity on the blockchain.
Bitcoin rose 1.6% to $67,488.0 by 08:54 ET (12:54 GMT). The token tread water for the past two sessions after failing to break past $70,000 earlier this week.
Rates, election jitters pressure Bitcoin
Bitcoin had initially rallied on increased speculation that Donald Trump will win a second term in 2024. Recent polls and prediction markets also showed Trump with a slight edge over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
Trump has promised to roll out friendlier crypto regulations if elected, having maintained a largely pro-crypto stance in recent campaigning.
But Trump’s broader macroeconomic policies are expected to be largely inflationary- a trend that heralds relatively high interest rates and a stronger dollar. This notion pushed the dollar to a near three-month high in recent sessions, while largely pressuring risk-driven markets.
Expectations of a slower pace of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve also pressured speculative assets such as crypto, given that higher rates limit the amount of liquidity that can be deployed into risk assets.
Traders were seen widely positioning for a smaller, 25 basis point cut by the Fed in November, CME Fedwatch showed.
U.S. purchasing managers index data due later on Thursday is expected to provide more cues on the U.S. economy.
Solana rallies amid increased blockchain activity, memecoin speculation
Solana was an outperformer in crypto markets this week, rising about 5% to a near three-month high of $174.7 on Thursday amid increased trading volumes.
Coindesk attributed the price gains largely to increased activity on the Solana blockchain, especially in meme tokens related to artificial intelligence.
User numbers were also seen increasing to record highs above 8 million, while speculative positions on Solana increased sharply this week.
Solana was trading up 8.4% this week, compared to a 1.5% drop in Bitcoin.
Crypto price today: Ether falls, altcoins muted
Broader altcoins moved in a flat-to-low range. World no.2 crypto Ether was an outlier, sliding 1.9% to $2,526.59
MATIC and XRP moved in a flat-to-low range, while ADA lost around 3%. Among meme tokens, DOGE rose 1.6%.
XRP ETFs 'inevitable', says CEO
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse remains optimistic that the US SEC will eventually greenlight an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for XRP, the cryptocurrency developed by Ripple’s founders, despite the company’s long-standing conflict with the regulator.
Earlier this month, fund manager Bitwise submitted an application for an XRP ETF, which would allow investors to gain exposure to the digital asset through a stock exchange, without the need to directly hold the cryptocurrency.
The filing came as a surprise, given Ripple’s ongoing legal dispute with the SEC that began in 2020. However, Garlinghouse remains unfazed.
"To me, it's just inevitable [that an XRP ETF will be approved]," he said in a Bloomberg interview on Wednesday, highlighting the growing “demand from institutions and retail” for access to this crypto asset.
In addition to Bitwise, Canary Capital has also applied this month to launch an ETF tied to XRP.
Garlinghouse pointed out that while the SEC may have been reluctant initially, it eventually approved ETFs for Bitcoin and Ethereum—products that have been brought to market by major Wall Street players.
Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.