On Monday, the price of Bitcoin
declined in early morning trading in
Asia and fell slightly below the
US$30,000 level. Following last week's
upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain,
Ether had also experienced significant
gains but was now experiencing a
slowdown. With the exception of Solana,
Binance's BNB token, and Litecoin, most
other top 10 non-stablecoin
cryptocurrencies were trading lower.
Meanwhile, U.S. equity futures increased
after last week's gains, although they lost
some momentum on Friday due to a
mixed outlook for the economy. Despite
this, the stock market remained positive
and moved higher.
It is important to note that these
fluctuations in the cryptocurrency and
stock markets are normal and expected.
As always, investors should exercise
caution and consider their investment
goals and risk tolerance before making
any decisions.
Fast facts:
According to CoinMarketCap data,
Bitcoin experienced a 1.47% decline to
trade at US$29,858 over a 24-hour
period up to 9:00 am in Hong Kong.
However, for the week, the token was
still up 5.13%. Bitcoin briefly exceeded
the US$31,000 mark last Friday before
fluctuating above US$30,000
throughout the weekend.
The surge in Bitcoin's value last week
resulted from positive developments,
such as the Ethereum upgrade and a
reduction in US inflation in March.
Decentralized finance payment app
TONBanking's co-founder, Marat
Minkin, said that lower inflation often
leads to the purchase of risky assets,
including cryptocurrencies. The CEO of
Ark Invest, Cathy Wood, added that the
uncertain US economic outlook has also
driven the safe-haven message
surrounding cryptocurrencies.
Ethereum's value declined by 0.40% to
trade at US$2,082, although it has
experienced a 12% gain over the past
week, including Wednesday's Shanghai
upgrade that enables investors to
withdraw their staked Ether. According
to Token Unlocks data, as of 9:00 am in
Hong Kong, more than 992,000 Ether
had been withdrawn since Wednesday,
and another 897,000 Ether's withdrawal
was pending. These amounts represent
about 10% of the total 17 million staked
Ether.
Binance's BNB was the biggest winner,
increasing by 3.07% to reach US$343.33,
with a weekly gain of 9.79%. Last Friday,
the world's biggest crypto exchange
announced a partnership with the
Brazilian Football Confederation to
introduce the first non-fungible token
(NFT) of the country's national football
league.
Solana also experienced a 3.01% increase
to trade at US$24.91, posting a weekly
rise of 22.63%. Solana Mobile, a
subsidiary of Solana Labs, launched
Saga on Thursday, an Android
smartphone integrated with the Solana
blockchain. Solana Labs also partnered
with Boba Guys, a US-based drink
retailer, to develop an on-chain loyalty
reward program.
Over the past 24 hours, the total crypto
market capitalization declined by 0.76%
to reach US$1.26 trillion, although the
total trading volume over the same
period rose by 13.46% to reach US$38.86
billion.
In the NFT market, the Forkast 500 NFT
index increased by 0.91% to reach
4,053.99 in the 24 hours to 9:00 am in
Hong Kong, representing a 2.98% weekly
gain. The index, which is a proxy
measure of the global NFT market's
performance, includes 500 eligible
smart contracts on any given day and is
managed by CryptoSlam, a sister
company of Forkast.News.
As of 9:00 am in Hong Kong, US stock
futures increased, with the Dow Jones
Industrial Average adding 0.19%, the S&P
500 futures gaining 0.17%, and the
Nasdaq Composite Index rising by
0.01%. On Friday, the three indexes
experienced a dip, although they all
recorded gains for the week, as US
economic data provided mixed
information to investors about what the
Federal Reserve will do with interest
rates at its next meeting on May 3.
According to a Reuters report on Friday,
the first-quarter earnings of major
banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co.,
Citigroup Inc., and Wells Fargo & Co,
beat expectations, indicating a stronger
economy that may fuel inflation.
According to the latest data from the
CME Group, U.S. interest rates are
currently between 4.75% to 5%, which is
the highest level since June 2006.
Analysts at the CME Group now predict
a 17.9% chance that the Federal Reserve
will not raise interest rates at its next
meeting on May 3, while 82.1% predict a
25-basis-point rate hike, up from 66.5%
last Friday. This mixed outlook for the
U.S. economy and interest rates may
continue to drive uncertainty among
investors and contribute to fluctuations
in the crypto and stock markets in the
coming days.
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