Cryptocurrencies tumbled close to 5 percent in the past 24 hours amidst renewed anxiety about the Fed's rate cuts. A more-than-expected reading on retail sales in the U.S. released on Monday compounded the anxiety triggered by the hotter-than-expected inflation data released on Wednesday.
Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Monday showed Retail sales in the U.S. rising 0.7 percent month-over-month in March versus an upwardly revised 0.9 percent gain in February and surpassing market forecasts of 0.3 percent.
Indications of robust consumer spending and sticky inflation have weighed heavily on market perceptions about the timing of rate cuts by the Fed.
The CME FedWatch tool that tracks the expectations of interest rate traders currently shows a probability of 2.5 percent for a Fed rate cut in the review scheduled for May 1. With the recent spike in retail sales, rate cut expectations for the June review have also dropped to less than 21 percent. A 49-percent chance of a rate cut is however expected in the FOMC scheduled for July and a 71 percent rate cut probability is assigned for the Fed review in September. Interest rate traders now perceive a 78-percent probability for a rate cut in November and an 88-percent probability for a rate cut in December.
The Dollar Index a measure of the Dollar's strength against a basket of 6 currencies hovering near a multi-month high of 106.17 also dampened sentiment for cryptocurrencies.
Overall crypto market capitalization is currently at $2.3 trillion, versus $2.4 trillion a day earlier.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $63,156.06, shedding 4.4 percent overnight. The leading cryptocurrency has slipped 10.7 percent in the past week. The leading cryptocurrency currently commands 54.1 percent of the overall crypto market. The 24-hour trading range was between $66,764.37 and $61,797.04.
With just 3 more days and 11 hours to go for the Bitcoin halving event, which is only 515 blocks away, there is lingering uncertainty and anxiety as to whether the event would indeed inflate Bitcoin's prices.
Ethereum has slipped 4.8 percent overnight and 15 percent in the past week to trade at $3,080.41.
4th ranked BNB has slipped 6.2 percent whereas 5th ranked Solana (SOL) plunged 10.5 percent overnight. 7th ranked XRP shed 3.9 percent overnight whereas 8th ranked Dogecoin erased 4.2 percent over the past 24 hours. 9th ranked Toncoin tumbled 11.6 percent in the past 24 hours. 10th ranked Cardano (ADA) recorded overnight losses of 4.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the CoinShares' Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly report on institutional investments showed an outflow of $126 million for the week ended April 12, versus a net inflow of $646 million for the week ended April 5. Year-to-date flows have decreased to $13.7 billion, reflecting in a cumulative AUM of $93.3 billion.
Bitcoin products that recorded weekly outflows of $110 million constituted bulk of the outflows. Ethereum-based products recorded outflows of $29 million, recording the 5th consecutive week of outflows. Solana-based products also recorded outflows of close to $4 million in the past week.
Short Bitcoin products however witnessed inflows of $1.7 million. Litecoin products also recorded inflows of $1.6 million.
Of the cumulative AUM of $93.3 billion, more than 78 percent is attributed to Bitcoin products that account for an AUM of $72.8 billion. AUM of Ethereum products have fallen to $13.8 billion. Multi-asset portfolios command assets under management of $3.9 billion. An AUM of $1.3 billion is attributed to Solana-based products and $617 million to Binance-based products.
The provider-wise analysis of flows inter alia shows outflows of $751 million from Grayscale Investments and $111 million from ProShares ETF.
Inflows of $486 million were recorded to iShares ETF and $90 million to Fidelity ETF during the past week. Ark 21 Shares received inflows of $17 million.
Despite the massive cumulative outflows recorded since the Bitcoin Spot ETF approval by the SEC, Grayscale Investments still accounts for an AUM of $31.5 billion, which is more than 33 percent of the cumulative AUM of $93.3 billion. iShares commands an AUM of $18.1 billion, followed by Fidelity that has mobilized assets under management to the tune of $10.1 billion.
The country-wise analysis shows weekly outflows of $145 million from United States. Canada, Sweden and Switzerland, all recorded outflows of more than $5 million.
Germany recorded inflows of $28.6 million, followed by Brazil that added $3 million.
Of the cumulative AUM of $93.3 billion, $73 billion or 78 percent is in United States. Canada and Switzerland follow with AUM of close to $5 billion. Germany accounts for AUM of $4.4 billion, followed by Sweden with $3.6 billion.
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