- Despite recession fears and weak economic data, crypto markets are holding strong, with total market cap reclaiming $3 trillion.
- The Crypto Fear & Greed Index hit neutral (51 points)—its highest since January—suggesting renewed confidence among traders.
- Jobless claims surge, ISM Manufacturing Prices drop, and recession concerns grow—but crypto remains resilient, defying traditional market downturns.
Much like those ChatGPT articles always say: “the crypto market is ever evolving,” and so on. But this time, our ol’ pal GPT might have a point.
Everything is pointing to either a recession or really rough times in the American economy. Whether Donald Trump’s aggressive stance on foreign policy is right or wrong, we’ll leave it to Forbes—the fact of the matter is, they are posing possible challenges to the U.S.’s ability to grow.
Following up on yesterday’s grim print of a decline in economic growth over the first quarter of the year—today’s headlines are not much better.
The U.S. Initial Jobless Claims for this week revealed yet another worse-than-expected result, with 17,000 more unemployed Americans than expected. The actual unemployment rate will come out tomorrow at 10:30 AM (ET), so stick around because we’ll cover it firsthand.
Moving over, the ISM Manufacturing Prices—which is a monthly survey tracking how much factories are paying for materials—came in at 69.8, below the forecast of 72.9. This means manufacturers are spending less on inputs than expected. While this could signal easing inflation, it could also point out the industry’s inability to spend as much.
As economic readings go, the only saving grace of today was the ISM Manufacturing PMI, coming in at 0.7% points above the forecast. A higher-than-expected PMI could mean factories are still producing and hiring right now, even if future conditions (like losing China as a trade partner) might lead to a downturn.
Crypto Doesn’t Really Care
Arguably, the most surprising outcome of these developments is the fact that crypto is not really being negatively affected by the potential downturn in the American economy. Today, the overall cryptocurrency market capitalization regained the $3 trillion mark, a level unseen since February.
Moreover, the “Crypto Fear & Greed Index”—which is nothing more than a metric for the overall vibe check among cryptocurrency holders—reached ‘neutral’ levels, a far cry from the “extreme fear” levels seen only a couple of weeks ago.
The index is now at its highest point (51 points) since January 30th, according to CoinMarketCap. While this is not enough to cement a potential bull run, the fact that digital assets are behaving more independently from outside pressures—at least momentarily—suggests that crypto traders are feeling more confident despite uncertainty in traditional markets.
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