Helium, Fantom, Ethena prices steady as crypto greed nears

Cryptocurrency prices held steady on Wednesday as a sense of calm returned in the market after the encouraging US Producer Price Index (PPI) report. Bitcoin, the biggest crypto in the industry, crossed the important resistance point at $60,000 while the market cap of all tokens jumped to over $2.14 trillion. 

The other top-performing cryptocurrencies on Wednesday were ThorChain (RUNE), Helium (HNT), Celestia (TIA), and Fantom (FTM). ThorChain surged by over 12% to $3.6 while Helium jumped by 9% to $7.38 while Celestia and Fantom jumped by over 8%. 

Crypto fear and greed is rising

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have jumped by double-digits from their lowest level this month as calm returned in the market. 

After falling to $49,000 on Monday last week, Bitcoin has soared to over $60,000 while Ethereum rose from $2,115 to $2,730. Other coins like Cardano, Solana, and Tron have also bounced back.

This rebound happened as the crypto fear and greed index moved from the fear zone of 31 to the neutral point of 55 and is nearing the greed zone of 60. The CNN Money fear and greed index, on the other hand, has moved from 19 on Wednesday last week to 25.

The crypto comeback has also coincided with the performance of global stocks, which also tumbled hard last week. In the United States, the Nasdaq 100 index has rebounded from $17,441 on Monday to $19,000, a 9% increase.

Similarly, the Dow Jones index has risen by 3.70% while the blue-chip S&P 500 index has jumped by 6.70% from its lowest point this month. It has risen in the past five consecutive days. 

The same trend is happening in other countries. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index has risen to ¥36,772, much higher than this month’s low of ¥31,163. Other indices like KOSPI and the German DAX have also bounced back.

US inflation data ahead

Cryptocurrencies like Helium, Celestia, and Ethena are also rising because of the macro events in the United States. Just on Tuesday, the US published encouraging Producer Price Index (PPI) data, which showed that prices dropped at a faster pace in July than was expected.

The headline PPI index dropped from 2.7% in June to 2.2% in July while the core PPI figure retreated from 3.0% to 2.4%. These numbers came a day ahead of the official US consumer inflation data.

Most economists expect the data to show that inflation rose modestly in July. As such, with the PPI figures falling, there are chances that the CPI also dropped. 

Cryptocurrency prices have welcomed these numbers and their impact on the Federal Reserve. As we wrote last week, the rising unemployment numbers mean that the bank will start cutting interest rates in September. Cryptocurrencies do well when the Fed is slashing interest rates.

Indeed, the US dollar index (DXY) has retreated to $102.46 while the 10-year and 30-year bond yields retreated to 3.85% and 4.16%. 

Helium token growth

Helium crypto price has done well this week. HNT rose to $7.5 on Wednesday, its highest point since March this year. It has soared by over 158% from its lowest point this year. This rebound happened as the network recorded strong on-chain metrics.

In a statement, the developers noted that the network was being tested by large 2 carrier networks to offload traffic into Helium. It is unclear which companies are although the network partners with T-Mobile. 

The Helium HNT token may have more upside now that it has formed a golden cross pattern as the 200-day and 50-day moving averages. If this happens, it could rise to $10, which is about 36% above the current level.

Helium token chart by TradingView

Fantom and Ethena have risen

Meanwhile, Fantom and Ethena token prices rose as investors bought the dip. Ethena token rose to $0.3431, higher than this month’s low of $0.2275. It has risen even as the amount of cash in its ecosystem retreated. Data by DeFi Llama shows that the USDe stablecoin’s total value locked (TVL) declined to $3.1 billion from the year-to-date high of $3.61 billion.

USDe is one of the biggest stablecoins in the market. Investors love it because of its strong yield, which ranges from between 7% and 10%, higher than other yielding tokens like Ondo Finance’s USDY. 

However, analysts warn that the USDe stablecoin could lose its peg because, like Terra USD, it is not backed by fiat currencies. Instead, its stability exists because of complex algorithmic transactions.

Fantom token price also rose despite weak metrics. Data by DeFi Llama shows that the network has accumulated over $90 million from over $8 billion during its peak. The other top-performing tokens were Celestia, Aptos, Immutable X, and Maker.

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