Bitcoin and Ether fell in Asian trading on Wednesday afternoon, with Dogecoin leading declines across top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies.

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Fast facts

  • Bitcoin dropped 1.41% over the past 24 hours and was trading at US$16,780 by 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, and Ether decreased 2.68% to US$1,228, according to CoinMarketCap.
  • Dogecoin slumped 5.47% to US$0.09561. Twitter user “Nima Owji” who identified itself as “Chief Twitter Leaker” said in a Sunday post that Twitter code showed the development of a potential “Twitter coin” that could rival Bitcoin and Dogecoin, while Elon Musk revamps Twitter.
  • Polygon declined 3.47% to US$0.8804. It announced on Wednesday that one-third of the tokens sold in its US$450 million funding round were unlocked and distributed two weeks ago, with Alameda Research among its investors.
  • Polkadot decreased 3.87% to US$5.28. Polkadot development activity has not risen since mid-July as the platform announced support for technology innovation while cracking down on crypto frauds. Solana dropped 4.18% to US$13.55.
  • Asia equity markets retreated following Wall Street’s losses overnight. The Nikkei 225 dropped 0.72%, the Shanghai Composite Index inched down 0.4%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slumped 3.22%.
  • China might further ease its zero-Covid policy as authorities mull downgrading the pandemic classification of Covid-19. Recent mass infections and low vaccination rates have clouded prospects of China’s economic recovery.

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