Markets: Bitcoin price back above US$19,000; Ether, Polkadot gain; XRP leads losers

Bitcoin broke above the US$19,000 resistance level in Tuesday morning trading in Asia, as most other tokens on the top 10 list by market capitalization gained ground. XRP continued its slide from Monday to lead the decliners, but remains higher over the past seven days.

Fast facts

• Bitcoin gained 2.2% in the past 24 hours to trade at US$19,217 at 8 a.m. in Hong Kong, while Ether rose 3.1% to US$1,329, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
• XRP fell 4.9% to US$0.46, though it is still trading up more than 20% over the past seven days. While the token seems to be losing steam, its recent gains were driven by developments in the lawsuit between the token’s issuer, Ripple Labs Inc., and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. One development is speculation the case may be resolved by a summary judgment rather than a trial.
• Dogecoin was the only other token in the top 10 to lose ground, edging 0.1% lower to change hands at US$0.061.
• Sitting just outside CoinMarketCap’s top 10, Polkadot gained 5.5% to US$6.53 on reports it now supports Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization. Tether is now supported by 15 different blockchains.

• U.S. equities had another down day on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Index ending the day off 1.1% and officially entering a bear market, or a fall of 20% from its recent peak. The Index hit a low for 2022 on Friday. The S&P 500 Index also lost 1% on Monday to set its low for the year as investors fear credit tightening by many central banks will drive the world economy into recession. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.6%.
• Global bonds have fallen 20% from their peak this year in what economists from Deutsche Bank have called the first bear market in the asset class in 76 years.  Investors are selling off government bonds as central banks look set to continue raising interest rates to combat inflation that is at levels not seen in 40 years.

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