Bitcoin and Ether fell during Asian trading hours on Friday, along with the rest of the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Solana’s native token notched the biggest loss, following rumors of a potential ban on crypto staking for retail investors in the U.S. Asian equity markets also weakened, mirroring Wall Street’s overnight downtrend, following mixed signals from U.S. Federal Reserve officials on monetary policy.
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Fast facts
- Bitcoin fell 3.71% to US$21,899 in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, and Ether lost 5.17% to US$1,551, according to CoinMarketCap data.
- The day’s biggest loser, the SOL token, shed 8.02% of its price to trade at US$21.06. Polkadot’s DOT saw the second biggest loss, down 7.85% to US$6.27.
- The global cryptocurrency market capitalization decreased by 3.84% to US$1.02 trillion in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, while total crypto market trading volume increased by 14.68% to US$74.79 billion.
- Asian equities were down in line with Wall Street’s overnight slump, caused by unclear signals on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s next move related to monetary policy after multiple Fed officials said that more interest rate hikes can be expected.
- Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.31%, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% and the Shenzhen Component closed the day 0.59% lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 2.01%, to finish at a near one-month low.
- The crypto market is pricing in Thursday’s events when crypto exchange Kraken shut down on-chain staking services for U.S.-based users to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that alleged that two Kraken subsidiaries failed to register the offer and sale of their staking programs. The exchange agreed to pay US$30 million in the settlement.
- Chief executive officer of Coinbase Global, Brian Armstrong, said on Wednesday that the SEC may be considering a broader ban on crypto staking for retail users in the U.S., adding to the fear in the markets.
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