Bitcoin and Ether have struggled to gain traction since the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) postponed its decision on seven Bitcoin ETF proposals. Most top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization rose, except Dogecoin.
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Bitcoin, Ether remain subdued by SEC’s ETF delay; Sol leads gains in top 10 cryptos
Bitcoin was little changed during afternoon trading in Asia, trading at US$25,985 as of 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong.
The world’s first cryptocurrency fell below the US$27,000 support level last Thursday after the SEC delayed its decisions on seven Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposals, including one submitted by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager.
“Despite the prospect of U.S.-based spot ETFs and positive supply dynamics next year, tight monetary policy, albeit near its peak, remains a challenge for Bitcoin price in the near term,” wrote Jamie Coutts, a senior market structure analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, in a research note shared with Forkast.
“US-listed ETFs – despite being kneecapped by the SEC for 10 years while other jurisdictions leapfrog with their spot exchange traded products – have significant potential to attract sizable flows. The U.S. still accounts for US$23 billion, or 80% of the total assets invested in listed Bitcoin fund products.”
Ether slipped 0.18% during afternoon trading in Asia to US$1,638 and declined 0.03% during the past week.
Solana’s SOL token was the day’s biggest winner in the top 10, after it rose 1.9% in the past 24 hours to US$19.84, but remained near a two-month low.
The total crypto market capitalization over the past 24 hours rose 0.31% to US$1.05 trillion while market volume increased 8.21% to US$21.56 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Mythos Chain becomes 2nd largest network by NFT sales, Lufthansa launches NFT rewards platform on Polygon
The Forkast 500 NFT index rose 0.28% to 2,198.27 points in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong but fell 1.93% during the week.
Mythos Chain became the second largest blockchain by 24-hour sales volume, despite its sales falling 17.44% in the past 24 hours to US$1.15 million. The network was boosted by the DMarket collection that generated US$1.14 million in sales for the network in the past 24 hours.
Ethereum’s 24-hour NFT sales rose 6.49% to US$5.05 million, but sales for the largest Ethereum-native NFT collection, the Bored Ape Yacht Club, fell 33.69% to US$446,463.
In the wider NFT space, Lufthansa Group, the parent company of one of the world’s largest airlines, announced the launch of an NFT-based loyalty program called Uptrip. Built on the Polygon blockchain, the platform will reward travelers with digital trading cards.
Following the positive news, the Forkast POL NFT Composite rose 0.65% during the day, while all other Forkast Labs NFT indexes were in the red.
Asian, European equities rise ahead of ECB President Christine Lagarde’s speech
Major Asian equities rose as of 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, with Japan’s Nikkei 225, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, the Shenzhen Component and the Shanghai Composite all posting gains.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index logged its biggest weekly gains in over a month last Friday, as the country ramped up policy support for its ailing post-Covid economic recovery, according to Reuters on Monday. Investor confidence also received a boost from Beijing’s measure to allow cities to reduce payments for homebuyers and encourage lenders to lower rates on existing mortgages, to boost the country’s real estate industry.
Over in the U.S., the stock market is closed for the Labor Day holiday.
Major European bourses started the week in the green, with the benchmark STOXX 600 rising 0.66% and Frankfurt’s DAX 40 up 0.5% for the day, in line with its Asian peers that also strengthened, fueled by optimism over China’s property support measures.
Investors are anticipating a speech by European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde at the Distinguished Speakers Seminar organized by the European Economics & Financial Centre later today, expecting further clues on the bloc’s interest rate trajectory.
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