Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether saw minimal gains in the Asian market on Monday morning, while investor sentiment remains cautious. However, analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. report that the downward momentum of the market is slowing, suggesting “limited downside” for the crypto market.
The Forkast 500 NFT Index saw an increase following the release of Donald Trump’s arrest mugshot, which triggered a surge in sales of the former U.S. president’s signature NFT collection. Meanwhile, U.S. equity futures rose despite Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s speech, reinforcing the possibility of interest rates staying high for a longer period.
Bitcoin rose 0.08%, reaching US$26,050.62 as of 06:40 a.m. in Hong Kong. Over the weekend, the token dipped below the key support level several times. Alex Kuptsikevich, senior market analyst at London-based online brokerage FxPro, noted that the Cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index is in “Fear” territory. This indicates that the market is not yet attractive to bargain hunters.
Ether gained 0.35% to US$1,653.79, but lost 1.73% over the last seven days. Kuptsikevich warned that if Ether fails to maintain its current level, it could drop to US$1,200 within a few weeks.
The total crypto market capitalization rose 0.18% to US$1.05 trillion, while trading volume increased 6.88% to US$16.28 billion. Solana led the gains, rising 1.99% to US$20.73, despite a 4.89% drop for the week.
The main Forkast 500 NFT index increased 0.07%, reaching 2,244.41 as of 11:45 a.m. in Hong Kong, and trading volume rose 0.33% to US$10.02 million. The average price of Trump Digital Trading Cards on the NFT marketplace OpenSea jumped 70%, from 0.1118 ETH to 0.1913 ETH (US$358) since the release of the mugshot.
Trump’s NFT collection, which was launched last December, offers perks such as a group Zoom call with the former president. Yehudah Petscher, NFT strategist for Forkast Labs, commented that “the more Trump is in the news, the more these will sell”.
In terms of collections, Mythos chain-based NFTs from blockchain gaming platform DMarket topped trade volume with US$815,301, followed by Ethereum-based Bored Ape Yacht Club with US$666,010 and ImmutableX’s science fiction-based trading card game “Cross The Ages” with US$472,187.
