Bitcoin spot ETF officially launched, BTC plunges, ETH takes over the spotlight

The three major indices showed little change in Friday's closing, but all three U.S. stock indices saw gains for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.34%, the Nasdaq increased by 3.09%, and the S&P 500 went up by 1.84%. In the cryptocurrency space, Bitcoin welcomed the listing of a spot ETF on January 11th, but stocks related to cryptocurrencies saw a significant drop for two consecutive days, with Bitcoin plummeting yesterday to a low of 41,500, seemingly confirming the "sell the news" adage. The market appears to have shifted its focus to the approval of an Ethereum spot ETF, with ETH being the standout performer among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Fluctuating Inflation Data

The data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics yesterday showed that the Producer Price Index (PPI) in December last year increased by 1.0% year-on-year, below the expected 1.3%; it decreased by 0.1% month-on-month, below the expected +0.1%.

This contrasts with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) released on Thursday, where the December Consumer Price Index slightly exceeded expectations, with a monthly increase of 0.3% and a yearly increase of 3.4%, higher than the economists' expected 3.2%.

According to the FedWatch data from CME Group, investors currently believe that the Federal Reserve is most likely to start cutting interest rates in March, with a chance of reducing the benchmark interest rate to 3.50-3.75% by the end of this year, a cut of 7 basis points, far exceeding the 3 basis points space in the latest Federal Reserve dot plot.

The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged and may cut rates three times next year, with U.S. stocks rising together, and BTC nearing 43K.

Bitcoin Spot ETF Officially Listed, Bitcoin Declines All the Way

Bitcoin welcomed the first trading of the spot ETF on January 11th, but cryptocurrency concept stocks such as Coinbase COIN, MicroStrategy MSTR, and mining company Marathon Digital MARA all fell for two consecutive days.

Bitcoin continued to decline yesterday, dropping to a low of 41,500, with a 24-hour decline of up to 7.7%. It seems to confirm the saying "sell the news".

Top 10 Cryptocurrencies Perform Best with ETH

Among the top 10 market value cryptocurrencies, ETH has performed the best. After the approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF, the market seems to have shifted its focus to the approval of the Ethereum spot ETF.

Focus on ETH? Analysts optimistic about the approval of the "Ethereum Spot ETF" in May this year

However, yesterday's decline in BTC also led to a general decline in other currencies, with only ETH, DOT, and TRX maintaining a positive weekly increase among the top 10 cryptocurrencies.