Bitcoin Back above US$20,000, gains for Ether and Polkadot; losses for XRP

Tuesday morning trading in Asia saw Bitcoin surpass the US$20,000 resistance level while the majority of the other top 10 tokens by market value advanced. In spite of leading the decliners since Monday, XRP has continued to rise over the past seven days.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin increased 6.2% in the last day to trade at $20k, while Ether increased 4.1% to US$1,329 per unit. Although XRP is currently trading higher than 20% over the past seven days, it dropped 4.9% to US$0.46.

The token’s recent gains were fueled by developments in the legal dispute between the token’s issuer, Ripple Labs Inc., and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, even though it appears that the token is losing momentum. One change is the possibility that a summary judgment rather than a trial may be used to decide the dispute.

Dogecoin was the only other top 10 token to regress, moving down 0.1% to trade at US$0.061.

Polkadot, which is just outside the top 10 on CoinMarketCap, increased 5.5% to US$6.53 on news that it now supports Tether, the largest stablecoin in the world by market capitalization. Currently, 15 distinct blockchains support Tether. 

Tether launched on Polkadot providing a stable currency to move in and out of the network.

“Polkadot is on a trajectory of growth and evolution this year and we believe Tether's addition will be essential in helping it continue to thrive.” – @paoloardoino, CTO at @Tether_to. https://t.co/3wZ55Bk6u7

— Polkadot (@Polkadot) September 23, 2022

The Dow Jones Industrial Index ended the day minus 1.1% and entered a bear market, or a decline of 20% from its most recent top, as U.S. stocks continued to decline on Monday. On Friday, the Index reached a trough for 2022. Investors are concerned that the tightening of credit by numerous central banks could send the global economy into recession, which is why the S&P 500 Index also dropped 1% on Monday, setting a new low for the year. Nasdaq Composite Index decreased by 0.6%.

Global bonds have lost 20% of their value since their peak this year, marking the start of the asset class’s first bear market in 76 years, according to economists at Deutsche Bank. As central banks appear poised to keep hiking interest rates to combat inflation that is at levels not seen in 40 years, investors are dumping off government bonds.