Bitcoin Moves Above $28,000, Ether Rises, XRP Rises, US Stocks Recover
Bitcoin traded above the $28,000 mark on Wednesday morning in Asia amid a recovery of most of the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies. XRP leads the winners with a gain of more than 20% on expectations it could win a favorable ruling in an SEC lawsuit. US stocks rallied on Tuesday as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen doubled down on her pledge to help troubled banks. The Federal Reserve announces its interest rate decision on Wednesday, with most analysts expecting a 25 basis point increase.
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Quick Info
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Bitcoin has gained 0.52% in the past 24 hours to US$28,065 at 09:00 a.m. in Hong Kong, up 13.22% for the week, according to CoinMarketCap data. The world’s largest cryptocurrency is up around 70% year-to-date after slumping for most of last year.
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Cathie Wood, founder and chief executive officer of investment management fund Ark Invest, said in a Bloomberg interview that Bitcoin’s rise in the wake of bank failures in the US this month shows more institutional acceptance of the cryptocurrency as a store of value.
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The Bitcoin Fear and Greed Indexcrypto market sentiment gauge, has risen to highest in 16 months was 68 points on Tuesday, signaling that investors are becoming more optimistic than fearful.
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Ether is up 2.10% to $1,790, up 4.99% over the past seven days. The token crossed the US$1,800 mark last Saturday for the first time since August 2022 and has been hovering around that resistance ceiling.
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XRP spiked 21.87% to US$0.4618, posting a weekly gain of 23.67%. The rally takes place as the legal team of Ripple Labs make a new profile before Judge Analisa Torres on Tuesday to support her defense in a lawsuit filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Ripple Labs payment network is powered by XRP.
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Total crypto market capitalization has increased by 1.05% in the past 24 hours to US$1.18 trillion. Total trading volume over the past 24 hours fell 11.79% to $67.74 billion.
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US stocks continued to rise on Tuesday as Finance Minister Janet Yellen said that financial authorities would intervene if smaller lenders were withdrawn by banks, convincing some investors The banking system is stable after a series of failures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.98%, the S&P 500 was up 1.30% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.58%.
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All eyes are now on the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates on Wednesday, as the US central bank weighs inflation concerns against financial stability. The consensus is for a 25 basis point increase, although some analysts expect the Fed to leave rates unchanged in the face of bank failure and forced bailouts over the past two weeks.
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US interest rates are in the 4.5% to 4.75% range, the highest since October 2007. Analysts at CME Group expect an 89.3% chance the Fed will raise rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, with a 10.3% chance unchanged, down from 26.2% on Tuesday.
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US stock futures were mostly unchanged at 9:00 a.m. in Hong Kong as investors awaited the Fed’s decision. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.04%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.01%. The Nasdaq composite inched 0.02% higher.
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