Ethereum leads crypto majors in rally amid Fed Congressional testimony

Ethereum led an uptick of crypto majors on Tuesday, as equity indices gained amid U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's Congressional testimony.

The second largest digital asset by market cap's price increased by over 3% in the past 24 hours and was changing hands for $3,069 at 12:03 p.m. ET, according to The Block’s Price Page. Bitcoin posted a 2.5% increase, and major altcoins such as BNB and Solana increased 2.2% and 2%, respectively.

The GM 30 Index, representing a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, increased by 2.59% to 118.05 in the same period. The global cryptocurrency market cap today stands at $2.22 trillion, an increase of 3% in the past 24 hours, according to Coingecko data.

Amid Powell's testimony before the U.S. Congress, equity markets posted gains. The S&P 500 climbed 0.2%, and the Nasdaq increased 0.26%.

Case for interest rate cuts stronger

Powell is on Capitol Hill today to deliver his twice-yearly report on the state of the nation's economy.

At Tuesday's hearing, Powell stated that the U.S. is "no longer an overheated economy" and that the job market has "cooled considerably" from its pandemic-era extremes.

In response to questions from the U.S. Congress, Powell suggested the case for interest rate cuts is becoming stronger.

"The labor market appears to be fully back in balance," Powell told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. He then informed U.S. Senators that inflation had been improving in recent months and that "more good data would strengthen" the case for loosening the central bank's monetary policy.