Ether has hugely outperformed bitcoin since both cryptocurrencies formed a bottom in June 2022. Ether’s superior gains have come as investors anticipate a major upgrade to the ethereum blockchain called “the merge.”
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Cryptocurrencies were slightly higher on Wednesday after investors shrugged off a higher-than-expected inflation report in anticipation of another key inflation indicator due to come out on Thursday.
The price of bitcoin edged higher by about 0.4% and was trading at $19,072.00, while ether rose 0.6% to $1,290.73.
The September producer price index, a gauge of final-demand wholesale prices, came in higher than expected, suggesting to investors that the Federal Reserve is likely to continue aggressively hiking rates until inflation comes down.
Crypto and equities investors alike are looking forward to Thursday’s consumer price index report.
Defiance ETFs CEO and chief investment officer Sylvia Jablonski called the PPI report a “benign” reading that investors are neither overly disappointed nor overly excited about. Bitcoin and ether have traded in a narrow range for about a month, with bitcoin “stuck” in the $19,000 level, and their moves have been largely macro led as the crypto industry quietly builds new narratives for the next bull run.
“Until we get past tomorrow’s CPI read and this earnings season, and get more color from the Fed, crypto and equities will stay in this trading range and a lot of the investor funds that typically go into the market will remain on the sidelines,” she told CNBC.
“There is a sense that we’re closer to the bottom than not, but there also isn’t this urgency to get in from a lot of investors because of the short-term uncertainty,” she added. “Until then, crypto and any kind of growth assets remain in purgatory.”