Daily News | Ethereum Traders Deposit $375m Worth of ETH to Exchanges After Shanghai Upgrade, Bitcoin Rally Pauses

Crypto Daily Digest: Ethereum Traders Deposit $375m Worth of ETH to Exchanges Post-Shanghai Upgrade

Bitcoin‘s rally above $30,000 has halted, with the cryptocurrency recently trading at around $29,450. Traders liquidated over $32 million worth of BTC long positions since Sunday evening versus $1 million of BTC short positions. Ether was hovering at about $2,075 on Monday, down 2% in the past 24 hours but holding steady, for now.

Additionally, the inflow of Ethereum into crypto exchanges rose after Ethereum‘s Shanghai upgrade, with a net inflow of 179,500 ETH worth around $375 million in the four days following the upgrade, according to CryptoQuant. This suggests traders deposited ETH to exchanges, indicating they may be preparing to sell, which could lead to a price decline. However, ETH’s price has since pared some of its earlier gains and was recently trading at around $2,079.

Meanwhile, investments in cryptocurrency products have increased for the fourth consecutive week, with a net inflow of $114 million, according to CoinShares. Bitcoin products attracted the majority of new investments, with $104 million. The four-week run of inflows now amounts to $345 million. Ether products only received $300,000 of net inflows last week, despite the successful completion of the Shanghai upgrade which led to an increase in the price of the crypto. Blockchain-related equities received a net inflow of $5.8 million last week, bringing total assets under management to $1.9 billion, the highest since October 2022.

Out of the total inflow of $114 million, Bitcoin products accounted for the majority with $104 million, per CoinShares report.

Macro: Low VIX Index Suggests Little Concern for Corporate Profits Despite Bearish Sentiment

Investors in the stock market were cautious as higher Treasury yields and bank earnings impacted sentiment, leading to minimal changes in the S&P 500 while the Nasdaq 100 underperformed. Investors are less optimistic about rate cuts later in the year, with two-year rates increasing to around 4.2%. Despite positive earnings from banks, Peter Kinsella of UBP stated that there might not be much upside potential for the S&P 500.

Meanwhile, Asian share markets are expected to have a cautious opening as investors wait for economic data from China, where Q1 gross domestic product is projected to have expanded by 4%. The US bank earnings did not alleviate investor anxiety, but Charles Schwab Corp. rose as utives confirmed the firm could withstand turmoil. Treasury rates increased, leading to higher government bond yields in Australia and New Zealand. The dollar remained relatively unchanged.

Furthermore, hedge funds have been betting against US stocks, with the most bearish reading for S&P 500 e-mini futures since November 2011. Despite this sentiment, the VIX Index of volatility is now sitting below 17, the lowest since the start of last year. US corporate credit spreads, which closely track near-term expected market volatility, are showing “little concern about an impending slowdown in corporate profits,” according to Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research.