Why Altcoins Like Toncoin and Pepe Stumbled This Week

Many cryptocurrency observers were expecting this week to be hot like the summer weather for coins and tokens. After all, the man who might be our next vice president is a well-known crypto advocate (and one-time venture capitalist), and a new financial instrument linked to a leading coin made its debut.

But somehow the stars didn’t align, and for the most part the altcoin market sagged. Both utility and meme cryptocurrencies alike fell over the period, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Toncoin (TON 1.53%), for example, was down by almost 8% over the week, while Polkadot (DOT 1.85%) and Shiba Inu (SHIB 3.53%) didn’t fare much better, with losses around the 7% mark. Pepe (PEPE 5.22%) fell by 6%.

Crypto ally hopes fading?

That high-level cryptocurrency fan is, it nearly goes without saying, recently minted Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance. News of his ascension to the lower half of that party’s ticket got crypto-heads excited; if Vance and running mate Donald Trump win, the crypto industry could have quite a powerful advocate firmly ensconced in the White House for several crucial years.

That excitement faded with Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not run for re-election. Into that void confidently stepped vice president Kamala Harris, who at least initially seems to be making a strong and well-considered play for the top job. At the same time, doubts seemed to be growing about Vance’s suitability as a candidate for No. 2. This, understandably, made crypto enthusiasts less enthusiastic about the upcoming election.

This should have been at least somewhat mitigated by the kickoff of Ethereum spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). After all, when Bitcoin ETFs were launched at the beginning of the year they led to a surge of interest in the leading cryptocurrency. This was entirely reasonable, as a spot crypto ETF is an elegant way for an investor to put money in such assets without the hassle of having to own them directly.

Of course, few expected such a happy parade for Ethereum ETFs. These instruments are no longer a novelty, and Ethereum doesn’t quite have the fame and fascination of its bigger brother. Still, like Bitcoin ETFs, the Ethereum variety gives the market a quick and easy entry into the coin. And Ethereum is more versatile an instrument than Bitcoin and has more potential, in my view, so it’s kind of surprising that the new ETFs weren’t more of a hit.

Perhaps it’s “crypto ETF fatigue,” or maybe many investors are interested in such instruments only if they have “Bitcoin” in the title.

Signs of life at the end of the week

All that being said, as Friday afternoon loomed there seemed to be something of a bottom-bounce rally in Cryptoland. Bitcoin picked itself up from the floor, and numerous altcoins were also improving (like Ethereum, which as of early evening was up by 3%). Perhaps this is the start of a new period of bullishness now that the market is getting over The Harris Effect and the damp squib of the Ethereum ETF rollout.

Next week will sure be an interesting one in the crypto market; watch this space for more.