Market Update - February 16, 2024

2月16日

1. Bitcoin tops 52K as ETF inflows build: Bitcoin ETF inflows accelerated this week, with close to 1.5B of inflows over the first three days of the week, and four of the ETFs (excluding Grayscale) now holding over 11B in AUM just one month after launching. Blackrock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) leads the pack with over 55B in AUM. As of Friday morning, BTC is currently trading around 52.1K, up 10% over the past week.
   
   
2. Ether hits $2,800 as its own ETF conversation builds: This week Ethereum broke above the $2,800 level for the first time since May 2022, and investors are spying the $3,500 April 2022 peak should the recent bullish momentum continue. There are currently 9 ETF issuers that have submitted applications for an ether ETF. After experiencing the impact spot bitcoin ETF approvals had on the price of bitcoin and the large inflows that are coming in daily, investors could be expecting a similar move in ETH should an ether ETF be approved.
   
   
3. Stacks outperforms, gaining over 45% this week: Stacks (STX), a project that aims to enable smart contracts and decentralized finance (DeFI) applications on the Bitcoin network, has been one of the biggest outperformers this week posting gains of 45% over the past seven days. The ability for Stacks to bring smart contract functionality to Bitcoin, has positioned the project well for increased attention alongside Bitcoin following the success of the spot ETFs.
   
   
4. Interest rate cut expectations lowered as CPI comes in strong: The US consumer price index (CPI) released on Tuesday, showed consumer prices increasing more than expected in January, coming in at 0.3% on the month and 3.1% year on year, while 0.2% and 2.9% were expected. The market saw some readjustments to interest rate cut expectations following the release, now pricing in a 30% chance of a rate cut by the May FOMC meeting, down significantly from the near 100% chance priced in one month ago.
   

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