The cryptocurrency market experiences another tense day as investors grapple with the impact of Federal Reserve decisions on crypto assets.
Despite persistent institutional demand, many stakeholders opt to remain on the sidelines due to Bitcoin 
$97,068‘s volatility and the prevalence of false increases in value over recent months. The market eagerly anticipates which direction the trends will take, while Ethereum 
$1,822 layer-2 solutions present new data for consideration.
Ethereum Layer-2 Networks
Although Ethereum’s layer-2 networks seem to undercut the main network’s gains, they are crucial in expanding the ecosystem. Interest in layer-2 solutions is attributed to Ethereum’s enduring price weakness, with many analysts suggesting this to be a driving force. Among these networks, some have distinguished themselves. While most sub-networks have their specific tokens, Noach recently highlighted the market stars within the Ethereum network in a shared graph.
Ethereum L2 activity is capturing an increasing portion of network transactions, with total ETH volume, including L2 transactions, reported at $10.9 billion last week. Base, a prominent player, showed a 5.59% volume increase, reaching $5 billion. Arbitrum recorded 112 million, while Optimism exceeded $185 million, Starknet surpassed 36.5 million, and other significant networks like Taiko and Immutable X reported around 11 million and over 42 million, respectively.
These numbers underline massive transaction volumes approaching $11 billion. While impressive for blockchain usability, these volumes impact Ethereum’s revenues negatively. The BASE network by Coinbase has been earning significant monthly gains, which detracts from the main Ethereum network’s earnings.
Crypto Market Expectations
Recent Non-Farm Payroll data exceeded expectations but showed a decline from the previous month. Given this context, the market has suspended expectations of a rate cut from the Fed in June. However, TKL’s reports indicate that unemployment figures were not so positive, challenging this assumption.
The number of long-term unemployed Americans rose to 1.67 million in April, marking the highest level since February 2022. In the past two years, the count of unemployed for 27 weeks or more increased by approximately 600,000. Consequently, the percentage of these individuals reached 23.5%, the highest in three years, typically seen during recessions. The average unemployment duration hit 23.2 weeks in April, the second-highest since May 2022.
These insights suggest the Fed might adopt a less hawkish stance. News of upcoming initial discussions with China has further boosted market sentiment, potentially spurring optimism for a crypto market uptrend.
