Crypto Assets Hit New All-Time High on Expectations of Fed Rate Cut

Stablecoin market capitalisation surpasses $300 billion
By Simon Peters, crypto asset analyst at eToro

Crypto asset markets have reached a new all-time high in capitalisation of $4.24 trillion, driven by investors’ growing conviction that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again at its next meeting on 29 October, following weaker-than-expected US employment data.

Although the US government shutdown prevented the release of the official non-farm payrolls report, ADP data—which measures private-sector job creation—surprised to the downside with a loss of 32,000 jobs, compared with the increase of 50,000 that analysts had expected.

Spot bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $3.24 billion last week, the second-largest weekly volume in their history, pushing the price of the leading crypto asset to a new high of $125,736.

Likewise, spot ethereum ETFs also recorded strong inflows.

With the arrival of October, known in the crypto community as “Uptober”—as it has historically been a month of strong returns for the sector—and amid a risk-on environment driven by expectations of further rate cuts, the rally may continue, with new highs possible for bitcoin, ethereum and other large-cap cryptos before the month is out.

Top-performing crypto assets

ZCash ($ZEC) was one of the biggest winners of the week, rising 150% from $60 to $160—its highest level in three years—after asset manager Grayscale launched the Zcash Trust , which allows institutional and accredited investors to gain exposure to ZEC without having to hold it directly. Meanwhile, BNB set a new all-time high of $1,224 after validators and decentralised application developers adopted a new minimum gas price of 0.05 Gwei (around $0.005 per transaction), making Binance Smart Chain one of the most cost-efficient blockchains