Bitcoin and Ether gain along with other top cryptocurrencies

Ether advanced 1.1 per cent during afternoon trading in Asia to $1,913, after it dropped to $1,884 earlier today

Bitcoin and Ether gained during Thursday afternoon trading, along with the majority of top cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and Ether both reclaimed key support levels. Institutional interest stays upbeat following a number of Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications, industry experts told Forkast.

Bitcoin increased 0.97 per cent during afternoon trading to $30,210 in Hong Kong, recouping from a daily low of $29,854.

Ether advanced 1.1 per cent during afternoon trading in Asia to $1,913, after it dropped to $1,884 earlier today.

Institutional interest continues to be a driving force behind Bitcoin’s stability, as big corporations and financial institutions continue to invest in Bitcoin, while the US Securities and Exchange Commission accepts more Bitcoin exchange-traded fund filings for review,  Lucas Kiely, the CIO of Yield App, told Forkast.

Because of its acclaimed position as a commodity, Bitcoin has come out as a long-term investment opportunity and as a hedge against inflation amid central bank monetary policies. Given this background, investors are more likely than ever to regard Bitcoin as a store of value, he said.

Polygon’s Matic token was the day’s biggest gainer, advancing 5.09 per cent to $0.7816, followed by the XRP token that firmed 4.59 per cent to $0.8208. The XRP coin rose 73.87 per cent amid trader optimism following last week’s court ruling that the sale of XRP did not constitute a security.

The total crypto market cap over the past 24 hours increased 0.96 per cent to $1.21 trillion while market volume rose 95.85 per cent to $63.22 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Bitcoin’s 24-hour NFT sales declined 22.27 per cent to $1.04 million, as sales for Uncategorized Ordinals dropped 45.42 per cent to $465,996.

The sales plunge resulted in Solana overtaking Bitcoin in 24-hour NFT sales volume, with $1.15 million.

Ethereum’s 24-hour NFT sales dropped for a second day in a row, dropping 21.77 per cent to $10.26 million, while sales for the biggest Ethereum-native NFT collection, the Bored Ape Yacht Club, increased 10.26 per cent to $356,746. CryptoPunks sales also declined 76.61 per cent to $110,440.

With NFTs declining it is likely we will see it drop below this threshold soon, particularly as NFTs enter the slower time of the NFT market in the second half of the year.