Bitcoin Rises Above USD 28,000; XRP Biggest Gainer in Top 10 Cryptos

Bitcoin continued to trade above USD 28,000 on Wednesday afternoon in Asia. Ether also rose, along with all other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies with XRP and Cardano leading gains. Asian stock markets rallied, reflecting a relief rally in US stocks on Tuesday after authorities took responsibility for tackling a crisis in the banking sector. Investors are eyeing the US Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates later Wednesday.

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Fast facts

• Bitcoin gained 2.07% to US$28,143 in the 24 hours to 16:00 in Hong Kong, and rose 12.58% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data. Ethereum rallied 3.44% to US$1,794 on the day and gained 4.73% on the week.

• XRP was the biggest gainer among the top 10 cryptos, rising 18.39% to $0.4569 and up 21.73% in the past seven days. Ripple Labs, whose payment network is powered by XRP, made a new submission March 20 to support its case against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC sued Ripple in December 2020 for allegedly selling $1.3 billion in unregistered securities. Ripple expects a court decision within the first six months of this year.

• Cardano was the second biggest gainer of the day, rising 12.74% to $0.3755, after gaining 8.83% on the week.

• Total crypto market cap increased by 2.75% to $1.18 trillion, while total crypto market volume fell 8.74% to $64.48 billion in the last 24 hours.

• All Asian stock markets rose on Wednesday, following a Wall Street rally on Tuesday after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressed confidence in the banking sector and said the US is willing to protect smaller lenders if necessary.

• The Shanghai Composite rose 0.31% and the Shenzhen Component Index rose 0.61%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.73%, South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.2%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.93%.

• Investors are eyeing the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision later Wednesday. Most analysts expect an increase of 25 basis points, while some expect the US central bank to halt interest rate increases given the banking sector’s turmoil over the past two weeks.

• “Investors seem to be gripped by the fear of missing out. They are looking past interest rate rises and assuming that the chaos in the banking sector will trigger looser monetary policy from central banks, which will fuel the markets,” said Nigel Green, managing director of the financial advisory firm deVere Group.

• Inflation in the UK rose 10.4% from a year earlier in February, more than a forecast of 9.9%, and rose from 10.1% in January. The Bank of England has raised interest rates to tackle inflation and will announce its next policy decision on Thursday.

• London’s benchmark FTSE 100 fell 0.2% as investors expect further monetary tightening.

• European shares rose ahead of the Fed’s interest rate decision, with the STOXX 600 gaining 0.22% and Germany’s DAX 40 gaining 0.57% on the day.

• See related article: Bitcoin breaks USD 28,000 barrier, crypto stability ahead of Fed rate decision