Bitcoin rose to trade above US$27,200 in Asia on Wednesday morning, after reaching above US$27,400 earlier in the day. Ether remained flat at around US$1,640. All other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies posted gains in the past 24 hours, with Toncoin up more than 7 percent in the rally. The crypto market received a boost from Japan’s leading investment bank Nomura, which announced a Bitcoin-based fund for institutional investors on Tuesday. U.S. stock futures traded flat after Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.
Bitcoin rose above US$27,400; Nomura unveils Bitcoin fund
As of 07:30 AM in Hong Kong, Bitcoin has risen 1.75% to US$27,214.15 in the past 24 hours and is up 5.11% for the week. CoinMarketCap Data. The world’s largest cryptocurrency rallied early on Wednesday to reach $27,488.76 – the highest price since August 31, but retreated shortly after.
Laser Digital, a digital property of Japan’s Nomura Holdings; announced A Bitcoin Adoption Fund will launch on Tuesday, with the aim of providing “a seamless way for institutional investors to access the digital asset class.”
With nearly $500 billion in assets under management, Nomura is Japan’s largest investment bank. Recently launched Bitcoin-linked fund Laser Digital Asset Management is the first in a range of digital adoption investment solutions to market.
“Technology is a key driver of global economic growth and is shifting large segments of the economy from analog to digital. Sebastian Guglietta, head of Laser Digital Asset Management, is one of the enablers of this long-term transformation and long-term exposure to Bitcoin offers investors a solution to capture this macro trend.”
Meanwhile, as the equity market awaits the US Fed’s interest rate decision on Wednesday, some expect the event to have some impact on the crypto market.
“While markets may be volatile during and after the session, any sustained directional effect is questionable. In the current environment, making trading decisions based on macroeconomic data is less useful, as Bitcoin’s correlation with traditional assets has decreased.” He wrote Blockchain research company K33 Research on Tuesday.
K33 highlighted a slide in Bitcoin trading activities on the world’s leading crypto exchange Binance. Binance’s seven-day average bitcoin spot volume is down 57% since early September, with the crypto exchange strengthening. Control tests In the US
Ether rose 0.42% to US$1,643.57 and was up 2.96% for the week. The second-highest cryptocurrency hit a 20-day high of $1,659.53 on Wednesday morning.
All other top 10 volatile cryptocurrencies have entered in the last 24 hours. Toncoin continued to lead the gainers, jumping 7.24% to US$2.58. Ton Network’s native token is up 41.07% for the week.
Total crypto market capitalization rose 1.32 percent to $1.08 trillion in the last 24 hours, while trading volume fell 12.12 percent to $27.29 billion.
Stocks tread water ahead of the Fed’s interest rate decision
US stock futures traded lower in Asia on Wednesday morning, with all three major US index futures lower by 9:30 a.m. in Hong Kong. Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average leading the losers down 0.31%.
Major stock indexes in Asia were mixed on Wednesday morning. China’s Shanghai Composite, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Japan’s Nikkei lost 225, while South Korea’s Kospi rose.
All eyes are now on the Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday’s interest rate, which is now between 5.25% and 5.50% – the highest level since early 2001.
As of September It is certain that the Fed will keep interest rates in September CME FedWatch tool 99% predict no interest rate hike on Wednesday.
However, factors such as rising oil prices could prompt the U.S. central bank to take a more hawkish stance on its monetary policies going forward, as the U.S. central bank hit a 10-month high of $US95.96 a barrel on Tuesday.
“Risks for inflation to heat up over the next couple of months are increasing and the Fed should complicate what it does,” said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at U.S.-based forex broker OANDA. Bloomberg on Tuesday.
“If core inflation shows that it is struggling to continue falling, long-term inflation will remain longer than the market is pricing it in,” Moya said.
The Fed will release its summary economic forecast on Wednesday, including a score that will provide additional insights into the central bank’s future economic growth, inflation and interest rates.
Michael Green, chief strategist at U.S.-based investment adviser Simple Asset Management, said: “What’s selling to the market is a pause[in interest rate hikes]but the risk that prices will stay longer will increase.” Reuters on Wednesday. “If (the Fed) moves up the dot plot and announces that they will end rate cuts in 2024, it will generally be seen as a hawkish pause.”
The CME FedWatch Tool forecasts a 70.4% chance of no rate hike in November 2023, down from 71.0% on Tuesday.
Meanwhile in China, the country’s central bank It is sitting One-year and five-year bond yields were unchanged on Wednesday as policymakers weighed the latest signs of economic stabilization and China’s weakening yuan.
“The cut is welcome but unfortunately will not be enough to calm market sentiment,” said Wee Kun Chong, senior APAC market strategist at Binnie Mellon. Bloomberg Wednesday said monetary easing is possible in the coming months, but for now it appears policymakers are waiting for their latest measures to take effect.
(Updates with the Equity section.)
