Bitcoin hit by inflation fears, Ethereum staking interest falls to new lows By Proactive Investors

Proactive Investors – Bitcoin (BTC) appears to be levelling out on Friday to cap off what has been an undoubtedly poor trading week for the benchmark cryptocurrency.

After shaving off another half a percentage point on Thursday, the BTC/USDT pair made minor gains this morning, with the spot price currently sitting above $26,800.

It brings week-on-week losses to around 2.4%, contrasting a relatively bullish week for the Nasdaq blue-chip index.

But risk assets in general are facing weaker investor sentiment compared to the US dollar, as lingering inflation concerns continue to push the greenback higher.

Thursday’s US inflation print came in slightly hotter than expected, resulting in one of the best daily sessions for the US Dollar Index (DXY) this year.

Unfortunately for bitcoin traders, the cryptoverse appears to be particularly sensitive to inflation concerns right now.

Bitcoin remains 11% down over six months – Source: tradingview.com

Though bitcoin may have had a bad week, things are worse at camp Ethereum (ETH).

The second-largest cryptocurrency reached seven-month lows on Thursday, with the ETH/USD pair flirting with the 1.5k floor.

Ether did stage a late-day recovery and is currently swapping for $1,540, but the lack of trading volumes and liquidity in the ether spot market remain persistent headwinds for the coin.

Interest in ether staking also appears to be diminishing. Though the number of active validators continues to go up, the entry queue has dropped from a yearly high of 45 days in June to just 5.5 hours today.

This suggests the demand for ether staking rewards has steadily declined since Ethereum completed its proof-of-stake transition in April.

In the broader altcoin space, Solana (SOL) is leading the blue-chip lossmakers with more than 7% cut from its market capitalisation in the past seven days, with Ripple (XRP) close behind.

Cardano (ADA), BNB, Dogecoin (DOGE) and Tron (TRX) are all in the red week on week.

Global cryptocurrency market capitalisation currently stands at $1.05 trillion, with bitcoin dominance above 51%.

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