Bitcoin and Ether fell as much as 7% in afternoon trading in Asia as the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization lost ground across the board. XRP slid to erase most of its gains from the past week as optimism faded for any early resolution to its lawsuit with the US Security and Exchange Commission.

See related article: Markets: Bitcoin price back under US$20,000, Ether little changed, XRP falls, Uniswap gains

Fast facts

  • Bitcoin fell 6.98% in the past 24 hours to trade at US$18,792 at 4 p.m. in Hong Kong, a swift reversal after rising above US$20,000 on Tuesday. Ether fell 7.11% to US$1,285, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
  • XRP lost 11.8% to US$0.4239, making it the biggest loser among the top 10 cryptocurrencies on the day. 
  • Solana fell 6.60% to $US32.31 while Cardano slipped 6.15% to $0.4309.
  • The market slump follows a meeting of central bankers in Paris on Tuesday where most attacked crypto as a risk-ridden asset class, calling on the need for more regulatory oversight of the industry. 
  • The celsius token rallied, gaining 1.83% amid reports that Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of crypto exchange FTX, was considering a bid for their assets.
  • Asia equity markets declined following Wall Street’s overnight losses. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index was the biggest loser, slumping 3.45%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended off 1.5%. The Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.58%.

See related article: Cryptocurrency lobby group gets court approval to weigh in on SEC vs Ripple’s XRP lawsuit