BNB leads winners in top 10 cryptos; Bitcoin, Ether rise 0.8% in afternoon trading 

BNB led gainers in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, despite Binance’s growing challenges. Bitcoin and Ether rose during afternoon trading in Asia, as market analysts are saying it could start picking up more bullish momentum above the US$26,000 mark.

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BNB leads winners; Bitcoin, Ether up 8% in afternoon trading

BNB was the day’s biggest gainer in the top 10 cryptocurrencies, rising 0.94% in the 24 hours leading up to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, to US$216. BNB was up 2.98% in the past week,  following the departure of Binance. U.S. CEO Brian Shroder and after the exchange laid off over 100 employees last week.

BNB has faced significant challenges this year over the Binance exchange’s mounting legal issues. BNB fell below the US$300 support level on June 6, after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Binance for alleged securities violations. 

In the wider crypto market, Bitcoin rose 0.8% during afternoon trading in Asia, to US$26,704. 

“At current levels above US$26,000, momentum can easily build up, bearing in mind that ECB’s Christine Lagarde said on Thursday she would not expect inflation to fall significantly after she delivered the 10th interest rate hike,” Phillip Lord, president of the crypto payment app Oobit, told Forkast. 

“Cash is no longer king in a world where your daily shopping basket gets more expensive by the day and where your bank account pays more interest at a lower risk than securities, where as cryptocurrencies as the digital money of the future offer an attractive add-on to any investment or personal finance portfolio.”

Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, also rose 0.8% in afternoon trading to US1,632, remaining above the US$1,600 support level since last Wednesday.

The total crypto market capitalization over the past 24 hours rose 0.41% to US$1.06 trillion while market volume increased 10.30% to US$19.49 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Ordinals surge propels Bitcoin to second-largest network by 24-hour NFT sales volume

The Forkast 500 NFT index fell 0.73% to 2,012.48 points in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong and fell 5.10% during the week. 

Bitcoin became the second-largest blockchain network by 24-hour NFT sales volume, rising 179% to US$1.2 million, boosted by a 268% surge in $SATS BRC-20 NFTs, that generated US$608,633 in sales for the network, becoming the fourth largest collection by daily sales across all chains, according to CryptoSlam.

Ethereum’s 24-hour NFT sales rose 18.37% to US$5.06 million, as sales for CryptoPunks increased 254% to US$880,422, making it the second-largest NFT collection across all blockchains by 24-hour sales volume.

In the month’s second-largest NFT sale, CryptoPunk #3609 sold for 420 Eth (US$682,748) earlier today. The seller logged a US$3,568 loss, having bought the CryptoPunk NFT 2 years ago for 375 ETH (worth US$679,178 at the time).

Asian equities rise despite Country Garden’s USS$15 mln deadline, U.S. equities up ahead of Fed interest rate decision

Most major Asian equities rose as of 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, including the Shanghai Composite, the Shenzhen Component and Japan’s Nikkei 225. But Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.39% during the day, approaching its lowest level in nearly a month, pressured by mounting concerns over China’s property sector.

Adding to these concerns, embattled property developer Country Garden faces a deadline to pay US$15 million on Monday in interest linked to offshore bonds, after avoiding default at the last minute twice this month.

Major U.S. stock futures also rose, including the S&P 500 futures index, the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 futures and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures.

Investors are now cautiously anticipating the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision scheduled for Wednesday. The CME FedWatch Tool predicts a 99% chance the central bank will maintain the current rate unchanged in September, up from 92% one week ago. 

Over in Europe, both the STOXX 600 and Frankfurt’s DAX 40 fell over 0.6% ahead of numerous other important financial decisions scheduled for this week, including an interest rate decision from the Bank of England.

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