Bitcoin Holds Ground Amid Binance Lawsuit, XRP Continues to Rise, US Stocks Fall

by James · March 28, 2023

Bitcoin rallied in trading on Wednesday morning in Asia after a slide earlier in the week when US regulators filed a lawsuit against Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. All other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies gained ground. XRP continued to lead the gainers, while Cardano followed. U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday on broader concerns about interest rates and the economy, and as regulators proposed tougher rules for the U.S. banking industry.

See related article: Asia Leads Crypto Regulation, Innovation May Leave US, Ripple’s Long Says

Fast facts

Bitcoin rose 1.29% to US$27,290 in the 24 hours to 09:00 a.m. in Hong Kong, for a weekly loss of 2.76%, according to CoinMarketCap data. The leading cryptocurrency so far this week after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Binance for alleged violations of trading rules. Bitcoin fell from around US$28,000 to a low of US$26,677 on Tuesday, and bounced back above the US$27,000 mark early Wednesday.
Ethereum also regained ground, rising 4.09% to US$1,776, but still down 0.78% over the past seven days.
XRP continued to lead the gainers, jumping 10.04% to $0.5215 for a 12.92% gain over the seven days. The token continues to gain on expectations that Ripple Labs, whose crypto payment network is powered by XRP, could win a favorable ruling in a lawsuit filed against the company by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC accused Ripple of selling an unregistered security in the form of XRP.
“The implications of the case are very far-reaching for the crypto industry because we expect this decision will ultimately set a precedent for how the US government will view the categorization of crypto assets and regulate them,” said Ripple Labs President Monica Long. Rejection. News on Tuesday.
Cardano posted the second biggest gain among the 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies, jumping 6.68% to $0.3678, but is still down 1.06% for the week.
Adding to regulatory tensions, a US judge ordered a halt to Binance’s $1.3 billion acquisition of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital, as requested by the Justice Department, which appealed an earlier court ruling to approve the sale.
The total crypto market capitalization rose by 1.80% in the last 24 hours to $1.15 trillion. Total trading volume in the last 24 hours fell 6.00% to USD 39.94 billion.
In the non-fungible token (NFT) market, the Forkast 500 NFT index fell 0.34% in the last 24 hours to 4,006.47 at 09:00 in Hong Kong, and was down 3.26% for the week. The index is a proxy measure of the performance of the global NFT market and includes 500 eligible smart contracts on a given day. It is managed by Forkast’s sister company, CryptoSlam.
US stocks closed down on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.12%, the S&P 500 fell 0.16% and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.45%.
The US Congress held a hearing on recent bank failures on Tuesday in which regulators assured that deposits in US banks were safe, but said that stricter rules are needed for the banking industry. US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he was confident the problems in the banking system were being resolved, but his administration would offer additional support as needed.
The U.S. consumer confidence index rose slightly in March, the Conference Board reported Tuesday, suggesting more optimism in the economy than expected as expectations eased.
As for inflation, analysts at CME Group expect a 57.5% chance that the Fed will keep interest rates between 4.75% and 5% at its next meeting on May 3. The chance of another 25 basis point increase is 42.5%, up from 41.7% on Tuesday.
US stock futures rose from 9am in Hong Kong. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.27% higher, S&P 500 futures were up 0.34% and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.36%. Investors are now awaiting data on pending U.S. home sales in February, with experts expecting a 3% decline from the previous month, according to CNBC on Tuesday.