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Cryptocurrencies in red ahead of US inflation data on Friday
Bitcoin (BTC) remained below $68,000 during the European morning while several altcoins lost up to 5%. BTC has a price just under $67,800 at the time of writing, practically unchanged over the 24 hours. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) lost nearly 2%, with meme coins SHIB and DOGE leading the declines, down 5.2% and 3.7%, respectively. Traders are eyeing Friday’s US PCE announcement, which bitBank, the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, said could lead to further losses. “Should inflation data prove more important than expected, Bitcoin could give up around half of its gain over the past two weeks and fall to around $65,000,” bitBank said in an email to CoinDesk.
Listing a spot ether ETF by the end of June is “a legitimate possibility,” Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas said after BlackRock filed an amended Form S-1revealing that an “early capital investor” had purchased initial shares of the proposed product. “On May 21, 2024, Seed Capital Investor, an affiliate of the Sponsor, subject to conditions, purchased the Seed Creation Baskets, comprising 400,000 Shares at a price per Share of $25.00,” the Form S-1 showed . “The net asset value of the Trust was $10,000,000.” Subject to regulatory approval, assets held in the ETF can be redeemed for cash or even ether. The iShares Ethereum Trust ether ETF will be listed and traded under “ETHA”.
The New York Stock Exchange would consider it offer cryptocurrency trading if the regulatory status was clearerthe company president said at Consensus 2024 in Austin, Texas. In a panel discussion Wednesday, Lynn Martin called cryptocurrency trading “an opportunity to look at.” “The fact that around $58 billion came into ETFs was a strong signal that the market is looking for regulation in traditional structures,” Martin said. “So hopefully the [SEC] saw the inflows and said, ‘Hey, this makes a lot of sense,’ considering that bitcoin ETFs have been hugely successful.” The NYSE’s US rival, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, is planning to launch spot cryptocurrency trading for customers, the Financial Times reported earlier this month.