“The biggest story of the year has been the rotation from Bitcoin into Ether as that narrative has picked up.” – 01:01
Andy Baehr, Head of Product & Research at Coindesk Indices, joins Remy Blaire at the New York Stock Exchange to discuss the current landscape of the cryptocurrency market, focusing on major players like Bitcoin and Ether, as well as the broader economic factors influencing these digital assets.
The segment opens with Remy discussing Bitcoin’s recent performance, noting that it is holding just below $111,000 after briefly recapturing a key technical level above $1.12. This resurgence has reignited positive sentiment in the market, especially as gold reaches new all-time highs. Remy highlights Bitcoin’s role as a macro hedge and its competition with Ether, which set a new record the previous month.
Andy provides insights into the current market dynamics, particularly the ongoing rotation from Bitcoin to Ether, driven by digital asset treasury companies and increased blockchain activity. They also discuss the upcoming non-farm payrolls report and its potential implications for the Federal Reserve’s decisions, especially with the September meeting on the horizon.
Andy emphasizes the significance of macroeconomic factors such as interest rates and tariffs, which can impact Bitcoin’s status as a store of value. He notes that while Bitcoin is currently in a moderate downtrend, Ether is showing signs of a moderate uptrend. The conversation also touches on the performance of other cryptocurrencies like Solana, XRP, and Cardano, highlighting the wide dispersion in returns within the CoinDesk 5 index.
As the discussion progresses, Remy and Andy shift their focus to the regulatory landscape, particularly the collaboration between the CFTC and SEC aimed at facilitating trading in digital assets. Andy shares exciting developments regarding tokenized equities and their intersection with the cryptocurrency market, suggesting that increased trading activity will benefit Layer 1 blockchains like Ethereum and Solana.