The gains followed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s suggestion that the Federal Reserve should weigh a 50 basis-point rate cut in September on Tuesday evening.
Altcoins added to their rally on Wednesday in U.S. morning hours with Ethereum (ETH) nearing record highs, Solana (SOL) topping $200, and Dogecoin (DOGE) up double digits. The gains followed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s suggestion that the Federal Reserve should weigh a 50 basis-point rate cut in September.
“The real thing now to think about is should we get a 50 basis-point rate cut in September,” Bessent told Fox News on Tuesday. He added that the Fed could have cut rates in June if it had been given accurate data, which he described as a “foundational issue” at the central bank.
Ethereum’s price climbed nearly 10% in the last 24 hours to just under $4,700. The cryptocurrency is only 3.7% away from its all-time high of $4,878, seen almost 4 years ago. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Ethereum surged to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ territory over the past day amid ‘high’ levels of chatter.
Ethereum’s rally also pulled up the stocks of Ethereum-holding companies, Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) and FG Nexus (FGNX). BMNR’s stock gained nearly 6% in pre-market trade, while FGNX’s stock was up 3.6%. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around BMNR surged higher within ‘extremely bullish’ territory, accompanied by ‘extremely high’ levels of chatter. Meanwhile, retail sentiment around FGNX slipped to the ‘bullish’ zone from ‘extremely bullish’ with message volume also dropping to ‘high’ levels from ‘extremely high’ over the past day.
Standard Chartered predicted that Ethereum’s price could hit $7,500 this year–more than double its previous target of $4,000–as per CoinTelegraph. According to the firm, the increase in institutional buying and the surge in adoption of stablecoins following the recent regulatory changes have set the stage for Ethereum’s price to rise further.
Among major altcoins, Solana led the surge, followed by Cardano’s ADA (ADA) and Dogecoin. Solana’s price rallied more than 15% in the last 24 hours and crossed the $200 mark for the first time since February. Cardano’s price rose 13.7% but continued to trade at sub $1-levels, far from its all-time high of over $3, seen almost four years ago. Meme token Dogecoin’s price gained 12.5% rising alongside the bullish momentum seen among altcoins.
Ripple’s native token (XRP) gained only 4.6% in the last 24 hours, trailing behind its peers.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s (BTC) price rose 1.8% over the past day, trading at around $120,000 at the time of writing. This puts the apex cryptocurrency’s price just 1.9% below its all-time high of $122,220, seen last month. Retail sentiment around the apex cryptocurrency remained in ‘bearish’ territory on Stocktwits.
Bitcoin-linked stocks were in the green during pre-market trading. Shares of Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, edged 0.94% lower. Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms (RIOT) stock gained 1.49%, and shares of its peer, Mara Holdings (MARA), rose 1.15%. Meanwhile, crypto exchange Coinbase Global’s (COIN) stock moved 1.24% higher.
The altcoin rally led to $535 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass data. Most of the liquidations came from long bets–traders who bet that the price of cryptocurrencies would rise, amounting to around $417 million. Short liquidations were around $119 million. Ethereum experienced the largest liquidations of $295 million, followed by Bitcoin at $49 million and Solana at $36 million.
Read also: Ethereum Leads Gains After Record $1B ETF Inflows – Bitcoin, Altcoins Slide Ahead Of Inflation Data
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