Bitcoin falls, Ether little changed, with top 10 crypto mixed after US stock decline

Bitcoin fell and Ether traded little changed on Wednesday morning in Asia, with most of the rest of the 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies mixed. XRP led the gainers and Litecoin posted the biggest loss. Cryptocurrencies appeared to largely shrug off Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks to Congress on Tuesday, raising concerns about a steeper-than-expected interest rate hike and sending U.S. stocks into a slide.

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Fast facts

• Bitcoin fell 0.79% in the past 24 hours to $22,261 as of 09:00 in Hong Kong, according to CoinMarketCap data. The leading cryptocurrency is down 3.74% in the last seven days. Ether gained 0.06% to $1,567, but is also in the red for the past week with a loss of 2.22%.

• Litecoin posted the biggest 24-hour loss among the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies, falling 2.12% to trade at $86.08. The token has lost 8.42% in the last week.

• XRP led the gainers, rising 3.52% to $0.38. ONE legal order in testimony on Monday partially favored Ripple Labs, a crypto payment network powered by XRP, in its ongoing litigation with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. XRP increased by 1.90% during the seven-day period.

• The US-based crypto exchange Kraken tweeted on Monday it “ended” its relationship with Silvergate, joining the list of crypto firms distancing themselves from the controversial crypto bank.

• The total crypto market cap fell by 0.49% in the last 24 hours to $1.02 trillion. Total trading volume in the last 24 hours rose 26.38% to 44.69 billion USD.

• US stocks fell on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.72% lower, the S&P 500 fell 1.53% and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.25%.

• The decline followed Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s address to Congress on the same day, in which he said recent economic data in the United States indicated that inflation remained a threat and indicated that interest rates would need to be raised to levels higher than previously estimated.

• In December 2022, the Fed projected interest rates to peak at 5.1% in 2023, but some analysts now predict rates could reach 6.0% if economic data readings continue to appear overheated, according to Reuters on Wednesday.

• US interest rates are now between 4.5% and 4.75%, the highest since October 2007. Analysts at CME Group expect a 30.2% chance the Fed will raise interest rates by another 25 basis points this month. They also predict a 69.8% chance of a 50 basis point increase, which is more than double the 31.4% prediction on Monday.

• The next batch of data to arrive this week is on the US labor market, including February private payrolls on Wednesday and the Labor Department’s February jobs report on Friday. Both indicators play into the Fed’s decision-making on interest rates. Powell will also speak on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

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