Bitcoin, Ether drop; BNB, Polkadot’s biggest losers in the top 10
Bitcoin and Ether fell in Tuesday afternoon trading in Asia, along with all other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Asian stock markets rose, with Hong Kong’s economy picking up again in the first quarter. Most U.S. stock futures weakened while European stocks traded in the red ahead of key interest rate decisions and a report on U.S. employment data.
See related article: Sotheby’s Launches NFT Marketplace for Transactions on Ethereum, Polygon Network
Crypto
Bitcoin fell 2.09% to US$28,036 in the 24 hours to 16:00 in Hong Kong, according to CoinMarketCap data. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has risen 2.77% in the past seven days.
Ether lost 0.81% to $1,835, but gained 1.03% on the week.
BNB, the native token of the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, was the biggest loser among the top 10 cryptos in 24 hours, falling 2.93% to USD 324, bringing its weekly loss to 1.55%. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao reportedly said not to rely on the banking industry’s failures for Bitcoin’s success, while pointing out that cryptocurrencies are just one of many places to keep money out of banks.
His comment followed recent failures of major banks including First Republic Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank which were taken over by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Polkadot was the second biggest loser of the day, falling 2.66% to $5.69, losing 2.43% for the week.
Total crypto market capitalization fell 1.59% to $1.16 trillion, and crypto market volume fell 12.55% to $34.77 billion.
NFT
The Nasdaq 500 NFT index fell 0.13% to 3,743.19 in the 24 hours to 16:30 in Hong Kong, but rose 0.18% for the week.
The index fell, but the development in the total NFT market is gaining momentum. Leading art auction house Sotheby’s, which has reportedly handled around $120 million in NFT sales, offers peer-to-peer trading of NFT art between collectors on its platform via the Ethereum and Polygon networks.
NFT sales on the Ethereum network increased by 67% in the last 24 hours to US$24.8 million, mainly driven by the Azuki collection, which generated over 5.4 million in sales and Bored Ape Yacht Club, which produced US$3.2 million in sales in the previous 24 hours, according to CryptoSlam data.
Stock
Asian stock markets rose on Tuesday, with several markets in the region resuming trading after a long holiday weekend. Exchanges in mainland China remained closed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.2% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.12% to its highest close since August 2022. Japanese markets will be closed for the rest of the week.
Hong Kong’s economy reportedly grew 2.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of the year on the back of stronger domestic consumption and inbound tourism, with the financial hub’s chief John Lee expecting “much better” growth.
Most US stock futures weakened as of 16:30 in Hong Kong. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.14%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.12% while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.026%.
Investors are eyeing the US Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy decision due on Wednesday. In a Reuters poll, 94 out of 105 economists expect the Fed to deliver a rate hike of 25 basis points in May, before leaving rates unchanged for the rest of the year. The increase would be the US central bank’s 10th straight increase in the fight against inflation and would raise interest rates to around 5% to 5.25%, a level not seen since 2007.
European investors were also cautious ahead of the release of April eurozone inflation data, which could influence the European Central Bank’s next monetary policy decision, set for Thursday. The ECB is expected to raise interest rates for the seventh time in a row on Thursday, with consumer prices still well above the 2% target.
European stock markets traded in the red as investors remained cautious ahead of policy rate decisions. The benchmark STOXX 600 index fell 0.38% and Germany’s DAX 40 lost 0.41%.
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