Bitcoin posted a three-week high in afternoon trading in the Asia time zone. Ether led gains across all top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with a 12% surge. Cardano’s ADA and Solana’s token also registered double-digit gains.

Fast facts

Bitcoin rose 5.37% in the past 24 hours to trade at a three-week high of US$20,349 at 4 p.m. in Hong Kong, while Ether was Tuesday’s biggest gainer among the top 10 cryptos excluding stablecoins, jumping 12.52% to US$1,516, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

BNB, the native token of the BNB Smart Chain – operated by Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange – rose 4.91% to US$287, overtaking USDC, the second-largest stablecoin, to claim fourth place in the top 10 cryptocurrencies list as it’s market cap hits US$45.8 billion.

ADA climbed 11.20% to US$0.40, Solana gained 10.20% to change hands at US$31.34, and XRP rose 2.98% to US$0.46.

The gains follow known crypto supporter Rishi Sunak being inaugurated on Tuesday as British Prime Minister. Whilst finance minister in April, Sunak proposed plans to turn the UK into an international crypto hub, which included him introducing the Financial Services and Markets Bill. The UK Parliament’s lower house, the House of Commons, voted Tuesday to pass the bill which would regulate crypto assets as financial instruments, welcome news to those hoping for the institutional recognition and market stability that the legislation aims to provide. The bill now goes to the upper house, the House of Lords, for a vote before being enacted into law.

Asia equity markets rose following Wall Street’s gains overnight. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.67% and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.78%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index recorded a second consecutive day of volatility, rising 3.18% in morning trade before closing 1.00% up, though the index is still 4% lower for the week following Monday’s plunge. The Hang Seng Tech index jumped 2.48%.
Inflation woes continued Wednesday as Australia announced a year on year inflation rate for the third quarter of 7.3%, 0.8% higher than forecast and a 1.2% increase from the previous year.

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