Over the last 48 hours, millions of dollars have been liquidated in the cryptocurrency market due to tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump and billionaire businessman Elon Musk. Their public dispute has caused markets to end the week on a bearish note.
However, a weekly report from the cryptocurrency exchange Binance indicates that investors are cautiously optimistic, with growing confidence in a soft landing and a slowly cooling economy. Still, they remain sensitive to inflation risks and signals from the Federal Reserve.
Trump-Musk Feud Shakes Markets
Bitcoin (BTC), which has mostly consolidated between $104,000 and $106,000 since the beginning of the week, fell below $101,000, tumbling to a multi-week low amid the Trump-Musk feud . Ether (ETH) also took a hit, briefly falling below $2,400.
Besides the struggling prices of BTC and ETH, their balances on crypto exchanges recorded significant drops in the first few days of the month. Since the start of May, the metric tracking the two biggest digital assets has plummeted 4.3% and 7.5%, respectively.
This plunge in supply has marked new yearly lows for the balances of BTC and ETH held on exchanges. Binance believes this could be a sign of accumulation because investors are moving their assets off trading platforms.
Moreover, bitcoin’s correlation with equities and gold has continued to hold. The two-month BTC–S&P 500 correlation rose to 0.49 from last week, while the cryptocurrency’s correlation with gold climbed to 0.09.
ETFs Gain Institutional Traction
On the brighter side, crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are gaining institutional traction, which can be attributed to some recent regulatory reforms. Towards the end of May, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidance stating that staking activities on Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks do not constitute securities transfers. From then on, crypto ETF providers could incorporate staking rewards into their offerings.
Building on the same momentum, the multinational finance giant JPMorgan announced two days ago that it would allow clients to use crypto ETF shares as collateral for loans.
Notably, Circle, the stablecoin issuer behind the USD Coin (USDC), launched its initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The firm raised $1.5 billion for the IPO by selling 34 million shares at $31 each.
However, the 220 million outstanding shares disclosed in its June 2 filing with the SEC said the valuation stood at $6.9 billion. At the time of writing, the firm had a market capitalization of at least $20 billion, following the skyrocketing of its shares on the NYSE after the listing.
