Crypto prices today: Here’s why BTC, LINK, XRP, Merlin Chain are rising

Crypto prices are rising today, with Bitcoin and most altcoins being in the green. Bitcoin surged above $91,000, continuing the recent uptrend that started last week when it bottomed at $80,000. Other top tokens like Chainlink (LINK), Ripple (XRP), and Merlin Chain (MERL) are also rising.

Why Merlin Chain, Chainlink, and XRP are rising 

Merlin Chain token jumped by 135%, with its 24-hour volume soaring to $204 million and its market capitalization hitting $518 million. This surge happened after the developers launched a new upgrade that introduced zero-knowledge rollups to improve transaction throughput.

Meanwhile, Chainlink price rose to $13.42, up by 15% from its lowest level this month, as investors anticipated the upcoming launch of the Grayscale Chainlink ETF (GLNK), which will happen on Monday next week. This ETF will enable American investors to allocate money to one of the most important projects in the crypto industry.

Chainlink price is also benefiting from its ongoing on-chain developments. Data shows that the supply of LINK tokens in exchanges has been in a strong downward trend in the past few months,a sign that investors are not selling. It also implies that investors are actively moving their tokens from exchanges to self-custody wallets. 

XRP price also rose as metrics pointed to more demand for the coin. Data compiled by SoSoValue shows that spot XRP ETFs have continued to add assets in the past few days. 

They had a net inflows of $21.8 million on Wednesday, bringing the cumulative total to $643 million. These ETFs now hold about $676 million in assets, which is equivalent to about 0.50% of its market capitalization.

Fed Beige Book pointed to interest rate cut 

Bitcoin and these altcoins are also rising today after the Federal Reserve published its Beige Book on Wednesday.

Beige Book is a document released every quarter to show the state of the American economy by regions. It is written by the 1w regional central banks and is often useful in determining the country’s monetary policy.

The Beige Book showed that the country’s economy has moderated, and hiring has slowed recently. This report confirmed a recent document by ADP, which showed that the number of Americans on payrolls dropped last week, raising the possibility that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 0.25% in the next meeting.

Most importantly, media reports suggest that Donald Trump is considering nominating Kevin Hassett as the next Federal Reserve Chair next year. He will replace Jerome Powell, who has maintained his independence despite increased pressure from the president.

Hassett has been on Team Trump for years and has actively supported cutting interest rates, a move that he will champion as the head of the Federal Reserve. Indeed, Polymarket odds on interest rate cuts have surged to over 83% in the past few days.

Crypto Fear and Greed Index and futures open interest are rising 

Meanwhile, Bitcoin and top altcoins are rising as the sense of fear in the market eases. 

Data shows that the Crypto Fear and Greed Index has moved from the fear zone of 8 during the weekend to 18. In most cases, the crypto market normally does well when this gauge is rising. This explains why retail and whale investors have started buying.

Meanwhile, more data by CoinGlass shows that the futures open interest has jumped to $135 billion while the shorts liquidations has soared by nearly 5% to over $320 million.