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Investing.com– Bitcoin price fell slightly on Tuesday, while a rally in no.2 token Ether also cooled as anticipation of key inflation readings this week kept traders largely risk averse, especially towards crypto.

Hype over the approval of an exchange-traded fund that directly tracks Ether also took a back seat, especially as the Securities and Exchange Commission now has to engage with fund managers over their applications to list such a potential product. 

The SEC had last week approved applications from major exchanges to list a spot Ether ETF, which triggered a sharp rally in the token and broader crypto markets.

fell 1.3% in the past 24 hours to $67,901.9 by 01:15 ET (05:15 GMT). sank 2% to $3,844.48, also retreating from two-month highs hit over the weekend.

Rate fears mount ahead of inflation data 

Fears of high-for-longer U.S. interest rates remained squarely in focus, especially ahead of key data due later this week.

The reading is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, and is likely to factor into the central bank’s outlook on rates.

Sentiment towards crypto and other risk-driven assets was battered by growing fears that the Fed will keep rates high for longer, especially after a string of officials warned that sticky inflation will delay any monetary easing. 

This notion also kept Bitcoin trading comfortably within a trading range established over nearly three months, and also limited bigger gains in Ether.

High rates bode poorly for speculative assets such as crypto, given that they limit liquidity that can be invested in the space, and also push up the attractiveness of conventional, low-risk investments such as the dollar and Treasuries. 

Crypto prices took little advantage of a mild drop in the on Monday. 

Before the PCE data, inflation readings from , and are also due this week. 

Crypto price today: altcoins, memecoins subdued 

Broader crypto prices saw little action, as trading volumes were also subdued on account of market holidays in the U.S. and the UK.

Altcoins and rose less than 1% each, while meme tokens and traded in a flat-to-low range. 

JPMorgan casts significant doubt on the SEC approving additional cryptocurrency ETFs beyond Ethereum ETH/USD, due to concerns over the classification of most cryptocurrencies as securities.

What Happened: JPMorgan’s managing director and global market strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou expressed skepticism regarding the SEC’s willingness to approve ETFs for cryptocurrencies like Solana SOL/USD, The Block reported. He said the SEC’s decision to approve Ethereum ETFs was already a stretch due to ongoing ambiguity about Ethereum’s classification as a security.

His comments come in the wake of the SEC’s approval of spot Ethereum ETFs last week, an event seen as politically motivated by some analysts. The SEC approved 19b-4 forms from various applicants such as Grayscale ETHE, Bitwise, BlackRock BLK, VanEck, Ark 21Shares, Invesco, Fidelity and Franklin in a sweeping order. Despite this progress, the actual trading of these ETFs is still contingent on the SEC’s final sign-off on S-1 registrations, anticipated to occur in the coming weeks.

Panigirtzoglou emphasizes that unless U.S. policymakers enact legislation to clarify that most cryptocurrencies are not securities, the prospect of new crypto ETFs remains bleak.

Contrarily, some analysts hold a more optimistic view. Standard Chartered Bank’s Geoffrey Kendrick anticipates the approval of Solana and XRP XRP/USD ETFs by 2025, while TD Cowen’s Jaret Seiberg suggests the possibility of a “basket of crypto tokens” ETF within a year.

Read Also: Donald Trump: ‘I Will Ensure That The Future Of Crypto And Bitcoin Will Be Made In The USA’

Why It Matters: Analysts have speculated whether other cryptocurrencies like Solana or Dogecoin could be next in line for ETF approval. Some analysts have predicted that Solana might find it challenging to outperform Ethereum following the latter’s ETF approval.

With the House of Representatives recently passing the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), colloquially dubbed the “crypto bill,” industry experts anticipate a more accommodating regulatory backdrop for cryptocurrencies in the near future. Whether that will translate into further cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds remains to be seen.

What’s Next: The influence of Ethereum as an institutional asset is expected to be thoroughly explored at Benzinga’s upcoming Future of Digital Assets event on Nov. 19.

Read Next: Why Donald Trump Will Pump Crypto: Mad Crypto Alpha With Ivan

This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Image: Shutterstock.