This episode of Markets Daily is sponsored by Kraken. It's Tuesday, September 19th, 2023, and this is Markets Daily from CoinDesk. My name is Noelle Acheson, CoinDesk collaborator and author of the Cryptos Macro Now newsletter on Substack. On today's show, we're talking about hints of green shoots after the crypto winter, going by recent announcements of crypto funds. And just a reminder, CoinDesk is a news source and does not provide investment advice. Now, a markets roundup. Crypto volatility certainly does seem to be coming back, judging from price moves over the past 24 hours. Yesterday, we talked about how prices were rising. Well, around about midday Eastern time yesterday after we recorded, they fell sharply, with Bitcoin dropping almost 1 .7 % in half an hour. Early today, they rapidly climbed, with Bitcoin again breaking through $27 ,000. Then there was another sharp drop and another climb. And well, you get the picture. At 10 a .m. Eastern time today, Bitcoin was trading at $26 ,975, down just over 1 % over the past 24 hours. Ether was trading at $1 ,638, down 1 .2%. Bitcoin does seem to be leading the market here. Last week, I talked about Bitcoin dominance, which is Bitcoin's percentage of the total crypto market cap. Another metric worth following to gauge market sentiment is the ratio of Bitcoin and Ether prices. Simply, Bitcoin's price divided by Ether's price. When it is rising, Bitcoin is outperforming. And when it is falling, Ether is outperforming. Over the past month, this ratio has risen by more than 6%. In traditional markets, investors around the world are braced for a slew of central bank rates decisions this week. The announcements kick off with the U .S. Federal Reserve's decision tomorrow. And throughout the week, we will get announcements from 10 more, concluding with Japan on Friday. In the U .S., as we mentioned yesterday, expectations are for a pause. Tomorrow, we also get updated economic projections in which we could see the FOMC Committee signal even higher interest rate expectations and a pushing out on the calendar of rate cuts. The inflation data we saw last week showed that core inflation is still, at 4 .3 % year -on -year, more than double the Fed's target of 2%. And headline inflation for August showed a higher -than -expected uptick while the latest jobless claims continue to show employment strength. There is little reason for the Federal Reserve to even hint that rate cuts might be coming soon. Concerns about some tough language from the Fed tomorrow, as well as the impact of rising oil, have pushed U .S. stock indices lower in trading so far today, with the S &P 500 down almost 0 .4%, the Nasdaq down almost 0 .7%, and the Dow Jones down almost 0 .3%. Over in Europe, the FTSE 100 is up slightly, as traders await a U .K. inflation print tomorrow. This is expected to show an uptick to back above 7 % year -on -year, a figure which could influence the Bank of England's rates decision on Thursday. Eurozone indices also appear to be in a wait -and -see mode, with the German DAX down less than 0 .2 % and the Euro Stoxx 600 flat in trading so far today. In Asia, Japan was down almost 0 .9%, as investors sold chip stocks after Taiwan's TSNC, the world's largest chip manufacturer, signaled slowing demand. In China, the Shanghai Composite was more or less flat today, as traders await a decision from the central bank on the benchmark loan prime rate. At the monthly fixing tomorrow, the central bank is expected to leave the rate unchanged, as economic stabilization and a weakening yuan are easing the pressure to relax monetary policy. The Hang Seng index was feeling more buoyant today, rising almost 0 .4%. The relief may be the result of good debt restructuring news from the troubled Chinese real estate sector. In commodities, the Brent crude benchmark continues its climb, almost reaching $96 per barrel earlier this morning. It has since retraced, but is still up over 1 % over the past 24 hours, currently trading at around $95 .40 per barrel. The rise continues to be driven more by supply constraints than by strong demand. On top of the production cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia, we now have lower production likely in the US. Yesterday, the US Energy Information Administration said that output from the top US shale -producing regions is on track to fall for the third consecutive month in October to its lowest level since May. Gold continued to inch higher, up over 0 .6 % to trade at $1 ,935 per ounce. Stay tuned. After the break, we'll take a look at hints of a new season for crypto funds. Meet the all -new Kraken Pro, the powerful, customizable, beautiful way to trade crypto. It's Kraken's most powerful trading platform ever, packed with trading features like advanced order management and analytics tools, all in a redesigned, modular trading interface. So head to pro .kraken .com and trade like a pro. Not investment advice. Some crypto products and markets are unregulated. The unpredictable nature of the crypto assets market can lead to loss of funds and profits, maybe subject to capital gains tax. Welcome back. After a long, empty crypto winter, it looks like activity in crypto funds is finally picking up. Yesterday, Coindesk reported that blockchain capital has raised $580 million for two new crypto funds, one for early -stage companies and protocols, and another for late -stage investments from Series B onward. This is notable, given that most of blockchain capital's investors are traditional institutions such as university endowments, private foundations, financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds and US pension plans. While they may not be ready to buy crypto assets directly, institutions are investing in the industry. Also this morning, we heard that the digital assets subsidiary of Nomura, Japan's largest investment bank and brokerage group, is launching an investment vehicle for institutions called the Bitcoin Adoption Fund. The fund offers long -only exposure to Bitcoin, with custody handled by Comainu, which was founded in 2018 by Nomura in partnership with crypto companies Ledger and CoinShares. Those aren't the only significant signs of increased activity we've had over the past week. We also heard that Electric Capital is aiming to raise $300 million for a new fund, Cassie Kornbank, the largest traditional bank in Thailand, has created a $100 million fund to invest in Web3 and AI startups, crypto platform BitGet has established a $100 million fund to invest in the trading ecosystem, and investment firm Reverie has launched a $20 million crypto venture fund. All this over the past seven days. Green shoots, maybe? That's it for today's show. You can reach us at podcasts at coindesk .com. Do also please send us questions you'd like us to address on the Spotify Q &A. Follow us. And if you like the show, please leave us a five star rating on whatever platform you're listening to us on. Markets Daily is produced and edited by Michelle Musso, with executive production by Jared Schwartz. I'm Noelle Acheson for Coindesk. We're back tomorrow with more market news and insights.