Ethereum has held relatively firm despite hotter U.S. inflation and oil above $100, with traders now watching today's CLARITY Act cloture vote and tomorrow's Fed decision for the next move. Separately, confidential-DeFi protocol Zama is opening 16 new vaults on Morpho after its first vault reached $40 million in value.
Ethereum has stayed resilient over the past week even as the macro backdrop for risk assets turns more negative. Higher-than-expected U.S. monthly core inflation data has sealed a Fed rate hike this week. Oil above $100 is adding inflationary pressure and reinforcing bets on tighter monetary policy. Growing optimism around a Senate vote on crypto market-structure rules appears to be offsetting some of that pressure.
CLARITY Act vote raises the stakes
The Senate faces a cloture vote on the CLARITY Act today at 2:15pm ET, which needs 60 votes to open debate on the bill. The legislation would divide crypto oversight between the SEC and CFTC and set requirements for exchanges, brokers, and dealers. A failed vote could close the legislative window for market structure this year ahead of the November midterms, which would likely weigh on Ethereum and could trigger a selloff. Even a successful vote may not help for long, however, since traders could shift focus to tomorrow's Fed decision in a "sell the fact" reaction.
Technical picture leans cautious
On the daily chart, Ethereum probed above the $2,560 resistance twice but failed to sustain the breakout, which might be a bearish signal given the macro backdrop. A drop to the $2,360 support could draw buyers targeting a rally toward $3,000, while a break below it would open the door to deeper losses toward the major trendline. On the 4-hour chart, the $2,462 level stands out as a minor support.
Confidential vaults expand on Ethereum
Away from the macro picture, onchain confidentiality protocol Zama is opening deposits into 16 confidential vaults on Morpho on Sept. 15 across USDC, USDT, AUSD, and TGBP. Its first vault, launched in June with Steakhouse Financial, went from zero to $40 million in value within seven weeks. Steakhouse will curate some of the new vaults, alongside Armitage by Wintermute, Flowdesk, RockawayX, and Bitwise.
Users get confidential access to 12 existing Morpho vaults on Ethereum that already have non-confidential equivalents, while four more were built exclusively for confidential deposits. Zama is also launching a swap protocol letting depositors trade between confidential assets on Ethereum without disclosing transaction size. Morpho co-founder Merlin Egalite said "Adding these confidential vaults on Morpho was an important step for us."
Sources: Investinglive, The Block
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