GDP, PCE, Jobless Claims Could Decide Crypto’s Next Move, While Ethereum Takes A Bigger Hit Than Bitcoin Amid Selloff

• Ethereum led losses among major cryptocurrencies, falling below the key $2,000 level for the first time since March.
• Bitcoin fell more than 3% to around $73,300, while Ethereum dropped 4.5%, underperforming the broader cryptocurrency market.
• Retail traders on Stocktwits said rising interest rates, sticky inflation, and continued ETF-related selling pressure remain major headwinds for crypto.

Ethereum (ETH) led losses, underperforming cryptocurrency majors, amid the selloff on Thursday morning with personal consumption expenditure (PCE) data, initial jobless claims, and gross domestic product (GDP) numbers expected later in the day.

The primary focus is likely to be on the latest PCE report, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge and will be first under new Fed chair Kevin Warsh. Inflation fears remain amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

Economists polled by Dow Jones expect the headline PCE price index to rise 0.5% month-over-month in May, accelerating from April’s 0.7% increase. On an annual basis, PCE inflation is forecast to rise 3.8%, up from 3.5% previously. Core PCE, which strips out food and energy prices, is expected to increase 0.3% month-over-month and 3.3% annually.

Crypto Traders Brace For Macro Data

Alongside the inflation data, investors are also awaiting the second estimate of first-quarter GDP growth. Economists expect the annualized growth rate to remain unchanged at 2%, following earlier data that showed the U.S. economy expanded at a slower pace than Wall Street had expected.

Weekly initial jobless claims are projected to come in at 213,000, slightly above the prior week’s reading of 209,000.

The combination of sticky inflation and slowing economic growth has kept pressure on risk assets, including cryptocurrencies, which have struggled to regain momentum in recent weeks.

Many retail traders on Stocktwits stated that broader macroeconomic conditions remain unfavorable for crypto in the near term. One user pointed to rising interest rates, persistent inflation concerns, and heavy institutional selling pressure from miners and spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Ethereum Falls Below Key $2,000 Support

While Bitcoin (BTC) has also weakened this week, altcoins have borne the brunt of the selloff.

Bitcoin’s price fell 3.3% in the last 24 hours to around $73,300 and was among the top trending tickers on Stocktwits at the time of writing. Retail sentiment around the apex cryptocurrency on the platform slipped to ‘extremely bearish’ territory from ‘bearish’ over the past day, while chatter remained at ‘normal’ levels. 

Ethereum led losses among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. ETH’s price dropped 4.5% in the last 24 hours to below $2,000, it’s lowest price since March. Retail sentiment around Ethereum remained in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, with chatter at ‘high’ levels.

Retail traders on Stocktwits debated whether Ethereum’s price could climb back above $2,000 or whether losing that support level opened the door to a deeper correction.

Dogecoin (DOGE), Solana (SOL), and Ripple’s XRP (XRP) also shifted lower, falling more than 3% each. Solana’s price fell to around $80, while Dogecoin’s price dropped to $0.098, and XRP’s price was trading at around $1.29

The broader cryptocurrency market capitalization slipped below $2.6 trillion, and CoinGlass data showed that over $1 billion of leveraged positions went underwater in the last 24 hours. 

Read also: ‘Trump Dump’ – Nearly $1B Wiped From Crypto Markets As Bitcoin Slips To $73K

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