Bitcoin, Ether, Forkast 500 NFT index fall, gold rises, as Janet Yellen rules out broad bank deposit insurance

Bitcoin and Ether fell during Asian trading hours on Friday, along with most of the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with Binance’s BNB sustaining the biggest loss in the top 10. Most Asian equities strengthened, despite Wall Street’s overnight performance. Investor concerns over a banking crisis returned, after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the government is not considering a “blanket insurance” on bank deposits.

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Fast facts

• Bitcoin slid 1.94% to US$27,676 in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong. Ether fell 2.25% to change hands at US$1,754, according to CoinMarketCap data.

• The rest of the top 10 cryptos also fell on the day, apart from Litecoin that rose 8.33% to US$87.83. Binance’s BNB token was the day’s biggest loser, as it fell 3.9% to US$324.73, followed by Solana’s SOL token, which ended the day 2.38% lower at US$21.76.

• The global cryptocurrency market capitalization decreased by 1.80% to US$1.16 trillion in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, with the total crypto market trading volume increasing by 5.65% to US$67.71 billion.

• The Forkast 500 NFT index slipped 0.64% to 4,105.25 points. ggoose lost 36.24% to be the day’s biggest decliner, followed by EGoldMiner that ended the day 17.24% lower.

• Gold rose 0.31% to US$1,970 per ounce on Thursday after gaining 1.6% on Wednesday, fueled by commentary from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen who said that the U.S. government was not considering a “blanket insurance” for bank deposits.

• Most Asian equities strengthened on Friday, in contrast with Wall Street’s overnight downswing, after the Federal Reserve delivered an expected 25 basis points rate hike, signaling it could pause interest rate rises, but reiterated its commitment to keep combating inflation.

• The Shanghai Composite rose 0.64%, the Shenzhen Component Index rose 0.94%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.17% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended the day 2.34% higher.

• The annual inflation in Hong Kong eased to 1.7% in Feb. 2023, from 2.4% in the previous month, representing the lowest increase in consumer prices since May 2022.

• European bourses fell on Thursday, with Germany’s DAX 40 down 0.44% and the STOXX 600 falling 0.76%, dragged by the banking sector that was downgraded to “neutral” from “overweight” by investment banking giant Citigroup.

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