Bitcoin and Ether rose during afternoon trading in Asia on Friday, along with most of the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding the Solana and Tron tokens. Most Asian equities were up, while U.S. stock futures were down, pressured by the possibility of the first-ever U.S. default by June 1, unless a deal is reached to raise the government’s US$31.4 trillion debt ceiling.
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Most top 10 cryptos gain, led by Bitcoin and Ether
Bitcoin rose 1.14% to US$26,512 in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, after declining below US$27,000 on Wednesday. Ether rose 1.69% to US$1,815.
“Bitcoin has doubled in price since 2023 while the Fed has been doing quantitative tightening. It definitely makes sense for Bitcoin to consolidate and then reprice to a fair value,” Johnny Louey Crypto Researcher Analyst at LiquidityTech Protocol, wrote in a LinkedIn response to Forkast. “The next catalyst for Bitcoin will be the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting in June.”
Positive regulatory developments are needed to reignite bullish market momentum, according to Maia Benzimra, head of institutional marketing at decentralized finance yield platform Spool.
“If the week closes with Bitcoin above US$30,000, it’s a positive sign of an upward trend. [If it closes] below US$26,000, bearish sentiment may continue.”
Litecoin was the day’s biggest gainer in the top 10, rising 3.21% to US$87.16, followed by the XRP token that gained 3.09% to US$0.463.
The World Economic Forum released a white paper on crypto regulation Thursday, highlighting the necessity of crypto regulations and global cooperation to prevent ambiguity and inconsistent law enforcement.
Ethereum NFT sales drop after two consecutive days of gains
The Forkast 500 NFT index fell 0.55% to 3,344.95 points in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong and lost 1.36% during the week.
Ethereum’s 24-hour NFT sales dropped 25% to US$13.4 million, along with the Forkast ETH NFT Composite that rose 0.09% to 1,130.52 points. Sales for the largest Ethereum-based collection, the Bored Ape Yacht Club, fell 48.16% to 1.06 million. 24-hour sales for Milady Maker also fell 11.69% to US$678,420.
Yet, NFT sales on Bitcoin rose 23.76% to US$2.4 million, as 24-hour sales for $ORDI BRC-20 NFTs increased 1.37% to US$443,336, according to CryptoSlam.
Looking at the most notable NFT purchase of the past 24 hours, $ORDI BRC-20 NFT #05bbe8 sold for US$339,437 at 2:33 p.m. Hong Kong time.
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