Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, plummeted by up to 7% on Thursday as it was swept up in a widespread market sell-off, struggling to benefit from the recent launch of the first U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking the currency.
As of the latest update, ether was trading at $3,170, reflecting a 6% drop and marking its largest daily decline in three months. This places it roughly in the middle of its recent trading range.
Bitcoin also experienced a decline, falling 3% to $63,930.
The debut of the first U.S. ETFs linked to ether’s price earlier this week has not provided the anticipated boost seen with spot bitcoin ETFs earlier in the year. Instead, broader macroeconomic factors have dominated market trends. Global equities have suffered, with technology stocks and other high-risk assets, including cryptocurrencies, experiencing significant declines.
On Wednesday, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell nearly 4%, marking its steepest single-day drop since 2022. This decline was exacerbated by disappointing earnings reports from Alphabet and Tesla, which undermined investor confidence in the already high valuations of prominent tech stocks.
In premarket trading on Thursday, shares of cryptocurrency-related companies also fell, with Coinbase down 2.3%, and Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital both seeing declines of 3.4-4%.
European markets were not spared from the downturn, with shares dropping 1.4% in early trading on Thursday.
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