bitcoin, drop of ether; BNB and Polkadot are the biggest losers in the top 10

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Bitcoin and Ether fell Tuesday afternoon in Asia, along with all the other top 10 non-stable cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Asian stock markets rose as Hong Kong’s economy rebounded in the first quarter. Most US stock futures weakened as European stocks traded in the red ahead of policy interest rate decisions and a report on US jobs data.

See related article: Sothebys Launches NFT Marketplace for Ethereum and Polygon Network Transactions

Cryptographic Image: Envato Items

Bitcoin fell 2.09% to US$28,036 in the 24 hours to 4 p.m. in Hong Kong, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap is up 2.77% in the past seven days.

Ether lost 0.81% to US$1,835 but gained 1.03% on the week.

BNB, the native token of the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, was the biggest crypto top 10 loser in 24 hours, dropping 2.93% to US$324, taking its weekly losses to 1.55% . Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao reportedly said he doesn’t rely on failures in the banking industry for Bitcoin’s success, while stressing that cryptocurrencies are just one of many places to keep money outside of banks.

His comment follows recent bankruptcies 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 on the day, shedding 2.66% to US$5.69, and was down 2.43% on the week.

Total crypto market cap fell 1.59% to US$1.16 trillion, and crypto market volume decreased 12.55% to US$34.77 billion.

NFT

Indices are indirect measures of the performance of the global NFT market. They are operated by CryptoSlam, a sister company of Forkast.News under the Forkast.Labs umbrella.

The Forkast 500 NFT index fell 0.13% to 3,743.19 in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, but edged up 0.18% over the week.

The index has fallen, but the evolution of the overall NFT market is accelerating. Leading art auction house Sothebys, which is believed to have handled approximately $120 million in NFT sales, offers peer-to-peer exchanges 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 past 24 hours to $24.8 million, mainly driven by the Azuki collection, which generated over 5.4 million sales and the Bored Ape Yacht Club, which has generated $3.2 million in sales in the past. 24 hours, according to data from CryptoSlam.

Image of actions: Envato Elements

Asian stock markets rose on Tuesday as several markets in the region resumed trading after a long holiday weekend. Mainland China stock exchanges remained closed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 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 is reported to have grown 2.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of the year on stronger domestic consumption and inbound tourism, with financial centers leader John Lee anticipating much better growth.

Most US stock futures weakened at 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.14%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.12% while the Nasdaq-100 futures contract edged up 0.026%.

Investors are eyeing the US Federal Reserve’s next decision on monetary policy due on Wednesday. In a Reuters poll, 94 out of 105 economists expect the Fed to hike rates by 25 basis points in May, before leaving interest rates unchanged for the rest of the year. The hike will be the 10th consecutive hike by the U.S. central bank in its fight against inflation, and will push interest rates up by around 5% to 5.25%, a level not seen since 2007.

European investors also sounded cautious ahead of the release of April inflation data for the euro zone, which could influence the European Central Bank’s next monetary policy decision, scheduled for Thursday. The ECB is expected to raise rates for the seventh straight time on Thursday as consumer prices remain well above its 2% target.

European stock markets traded in the red as investors remained cautious ahead of policy rate decisions. The benchmark STOXX 600 fell 0.38% and Germany’s DAX 40 lost 0.41%.

See Related Article: Securities or Not, Crypto in the US Needs New Regulations and Clearer Guidelines

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