Bitcoin on the recovery path? Ether remains the ETF winner

Cryptocurrencies were back in the green Tuesday while stocks traded sideways as bitcoin ETFs kicked off their third day of trading.

Bitcoin slid further over the holiday weekend in the US, before recovering slightly. It traded just under $43,000 Tuesday — around 1.5% higher over 24 hours — shortly after the open.

Bitcoin (BTC) is now down around 8% in the past week and has lost more than 11% since spot bitcoin ETFs hit the market Thursday. Ether (ETH), on the other hand, has surged on the bitcoin ETF news, gaining 12% in the past week and up close to 2% Tuesday.

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The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes were mostly flat Tuesday after the open, losing around 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. It’s a move that signals traders may not be as tied to interest rates as analysts had initially thought.

After a disappointing inflation print last week — prices are currently 3.35% higher year-over-year — and hesitancy from Federal Reserve officials around the timeline for rate cuts, equities are faring better than expected, analysts say.

“Despite those negatives and decidedly mixed earnings on Friday, stocks rallied and that begs this question: Do markets really care if the Fed cuts in March or not?” Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report Research, said. “The short answer is ‘no,’ they don’t. If the Fed does not signal a March rate cut, that will be a negative influence on stocks and bonds, but not a substantial one.”

Crypto investment products saw inflows of $1.18 billion last week, according to data compiled by CoinShares. While impressive, this is not a record, CoinShares analysts noted.

When bitcoin futures ETFs launched in October 2021, crypto investment products saw inflows of $1.5 billion during the first week. The first futures ETF hit the market on a Tuesday, while spot products started trading on Thursday.

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, which converted to an ETF last week and no longer operates on a lockup period, saw outflows of nearly $580 million during its first two days of trading. Bitwise’s product has emerged as an early winner, with its bitcoin ETF drawing $238 million in inflows on day one.

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