Bitcoin Price Falls. Why Another Crypto Is Leading the Way Instead. — Barrons.com

By Elsa OhlenBitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fell early Thursday as a range of crypto-specific and broader macroeconomic factors pulled prices in different directions. The result was mostly muted, though the second largest coin Ether, was the outlier.The price of the world's largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, is down 0.3% over the last 24 hours to $108,588, according to CoinDesk data. Altcoins XRP and Solana were also under pressure, falling just under 1% respectively.The tepid performance comes after Bitcoin reached a record high of more than $111,000 last week. Much of the industry gathered in Las Vegas for a key Bitcoin conference this week, including President Donald Trump's sons and advisors touting the perks of cryptos.Ether however, the native coin of the Ethereum blockchain, is up 3.4% to last trade at $2,732. The token is now up about 50% in the past month, according to CoinDesk."Ethereum's recent surge is not just about price — it's a reflection of capital rotation and structural realignment," said Jag Kooner, Head of Derivatives at Bitfinex, a crypto exchange. One key catalyst was the announcement from SharpLink, a sports marketing company, that it would create an Ethereum treasury reserve with help from the blockchain's co-founder Joseph Lubin, Kooner added."[Ether] has taken the spotlight as it soars to its highest level since February, driven by vibrant DeFi [decentralized finance] activity, corporate interest, and institutional staking," said LMAX strategist Joel Kruger. Crypto staking refers to the practice of locking digital tokens to a blockchain such as Ethereum in exchange for rewards.In terms of corporate interest, Videogame retailer GameStop and media company Trump Media have both recently said they would buy Bitcoin, mimicking the approach of MicroStrategy — the largest corporate holder of the coin.Cryptos are also largely macro driven and affected by factors such as trade tensions, inflation and interest rates. Minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting, released Wednesday, showed that the central bank views a recession as "almost as likely," as their baseline forecast.A worsening economic climate typically puts investors off risk-assets including cryptocurrencies. On the flip side, a U.S. federal trade court late Wednesday ruled that the Trump administration didn't have the authority to impose most of its so-called reciprocal tariffs.Combined with strong earnings from chip maker Nvidia, it lead to stocks rallying in premarket trading Thursday. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were up 1.2% while futures tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 1.7%.Write to Elsa Ohlen at [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.