Crypto Markets Drop Despite Cooling U.S. Inflation

Crypto markets traded lower on Friday in the face of new data indicating that inflation is slowing in the United States.

Bitcoin is trading 1.4% lower at $60,600, while Ethereum is down 1.3%, and Solana declined 3.6%, reversing most of its ETF-fueled gains despite a second filing from 21Shares today.

Among the top gainers, Akash Network (AKT) climbed 7%, and Ethereum Name Service (ENS) surged 5%. Fetch.ai (FET), Athena (ENA), and Quant (QNT) dropped 5% or more.

According to a report from the Commerce Department released on Friday, inflation in May dropped to its lowest annual rate since May 2021.

The core PCE price index increased by 0.1% in May, meeting Dow Jones' expectations. On a yearly basis, the headline PCE price index rose by 2.6%. The PCE index is crucial for traders as it is closely watched by the Federal Reserve and influences its interest rate decisions.

“Today's data will likely help to provide additional confidence to the FOMC that the US economy is continuing along what remains a bumpy disinflationary path,” said Michael Brown, Senior Research Strategist at Pepperstone.

“Nevertheless, it remains the case that 'one swallow doesn't make a summer,' hence the May PCE figures are unlikely to open the door to a [rate] cut on their own, though do push said door ajar a little more.”

Crypto sentiment was also buoyed by asset management firm VanEck filing for a spot Solana ETF on Thursday.

Ethereum ETFs

On July 26, Reuters reported that spot Ether ETFs could enter the market as early as the first week of July.

Michael Van de Poppe, CEO of MN Trading, said that a "significant bloodbath” has occurred in the altcoin markets.

"However, the Ethereum ETF is on the horizon, through which I'm expecting that we're going to be seeing a reversal of many of the Ethereum ecosystem tokens,” he said.

According to the Crypto Fear and Greed Index, market sentiment has shifted into the fear zone amid the recent volatility.

Data from Farside indicates that inflows slowed down on Thursday to just $13 million across all Bitcoin spot ETFs.

CoinGlass data confirms that in the past 24 hours, 32,173 traders were liquidated for a total of $76 million.