Bitcoin dipped under the US$20,000 support line in Friday morning trading in Asia, a price it has repeatedly fluctuated around for several weeks. Ether, the second largest token by market capitalization, was little changed and up about 2% on the week. Most other coins in CoinMarketCap’s top 10 by market capitalization were flat to lower.
See related article: Markets: Bitcoin dips but holds above US$20,000, Ether falls, XRP only gainer in top 10
Fast facts
- Bitcoin fell 1% in the past 24 hours to change hands at US$19,957 at 8 a.m. in Hong Kong. Ether dipped 0.1% to US$1,351, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
- BNB saw the biggest losses in the top 10, dropping 2.5% to US$286 on reports the Binance Smart Chain, which hosts the BNB token, was paused after developers identified a potential exploit.
- According to the official BNB Twitter account: “To confirm, we have suspended BSC after having determined a potential exploit. All systems are now contained, and we are immediately investigating the potential vulnerability. We know the Community will assist and help freeze any transfers. All funds are safe.”
- Solana fell 2.1% to US$33.36 and Dogecoin lost 2% to US$0.063, though is up 4.5% for the week following news Wednesday that Elon Musk, a long-time proponent of the token, was going through with his planned purchase of Twitter. XRP was little changed at US$0.49 cents.
- U.S. equities continued their downward trend on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.2%, the S&P 500 dropped 1% and the Nasdaq Composite Index ended the day down 0.7%.
- Investors await the release of the non-farm payrolls report on Friday, which is expected to say the economy added 275,000 jobs in September, down from 315,000 in August, according to a survey by Dow Jones. While this number would suggest a slowing in the economy, it isn’t seen as enough to sway the U.S. Federal Reserve from its campaign of raising interest rates to beat back inflation.
- Minneapolis Federal Reserve chief Neel Kashkari said at a banking conference in Minnesota on Thursday that he sees no indication inflation is peaking. Inflation is now running at 8.3% in the U.S. and the Fed has said it wants it back in the target range of 2%.
See related article: What does Lael Brainard’s rise in the US Federal Reserve mean for the crypto industry?
