Bitcoin remained below the US$19,000 level in Wednesday evening trading in Asia as the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with the exception of XRP, traded lower.
See related article: Ripple objects to SEC’s relief suggestion in XRP lawsuit
Fast facts
- Bitcoin fell 2.2% in the past 24 hours to trade at US$18,906 at 4:30 pm in Hong Kong, while Ethereum lost 2% to US$1,330, according to CoinMarketCap. XRP gained 5.4% to trade at US$0.40.
- XRP has gained 18.7% in the past seven days, fueled by speculation that the ongoing lawsuit between Ripple Labs Inc. and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may reach a conclusion following a request from both sides for a summary judgment.
- “It seems the market is responding confidently in anticipation of Ripple’s potential victory in the ongoing SEC lawsuit,” said Henry Liu, chief executive officer (CEO) of cryptocurrency exchange BTSE.
- However, XRP’s price could drop similarly to ETH post-Merge, Liu said. “The ETH price rose pre-Merge on high expectations, but macro factors won out in the end as bad news on inflation and from the stock market dragged crypto prices down in tandem,” he said.
- Asia equities closed lower on Wednesday following losses in U.S. shares overnight. Stocks in Shanghai and Hong Kong closed down 0.2% and 1.8%, while the Nikkei 225 ended 1.4% lower.
- The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates at the end of the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting that began on Tuesday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will announce any change in policy at a press conference starting at 2:30 pm Eastern Time on Wednesday, or 2:30 am Thursday Hong Kong Time.
See related article: Markets: Bitcoin price falls below US$19,000, XRP gains on SEC lawsuit developments, Ether post-Merge slide continues