Bitcoin flat around $27,000; Ether, Solana, XRP gain

Bitcoin rose 0.87 per cent over the past 24 hours to $27,309

Bitcoin traded almost flat on Monday morning in Asia to stay above the $27k mark. Ether was also little changed, along with majority of other leading non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless, Solana as well as XRP added over 4 per cent. U.S. stocks climbed Friday as a deal was approved to lift the debt ceiling, with the bill signed by U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday to avoid a default by the government. Investor focus has shifted to the Fed’s next move on interest rates.

Bitcoin rose 0.87 per cent over the past 24 hours to $27,309 at 7:00 a.m. in Hong Kong, but is 2.84 per cent lower in the last seven days, as per data from CoinMarketCap. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency dropped to $26,574 on Friday.

Ether traded 0.67 per cent higher in the last 24 hours to $1,904, little changed for the week.

Most other leading non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies traded flat. The exceptions were a 4.69 per cent price rise for Solana, and a 4.19 per cent rise for XRP.

Solana’s move comes just as non-fungible token (NFT) secondary sales on the Solana network increased 21.62 per cent over the past 24 hours, as per data from CryptoSlam.

XRP is 12.06 per cent higher over the past week, gaining momentum after the XRP community responded to the draft bill Digital Asset Market Structure Proposal that seeks clarity in regulating cryptocurrencies as securities or commodities. Pro-XRP lawyer Jeremy Hogan said in a tweet that the discussion draft could be known as an “XRP holder protecting” act.

Investor sentiment across both digital assets and traditional finance seems to be in a holding pattern awaiting further signals from the U.S. Fed and other central banks as to expected interest rate movements in Q3 of 2023, Nathan Simmons, chief compliance officer of Hong Kong-based digital asset platform VDX, stated Friday.