Markets: Bitcoin, Ether slide; BNB leads gains across top 10 cryptos

Bitcoin and Ether prices dropped on Wednesday morning in Asia while other non-stablecoin top 10 cryptocurrencies posted mixed results with BNB leading gains.

Fast facts

• Bitcoin dropped 1.49% to US$16,707 in the 24 hours to 8:15 a.m. in Hong Kong, while Ether lost 1.39% to trade at US$1,212, according to CoinMarketCap.
• The global cryptocurrency market capitalization was down 0.9% to US$807.38 billion in the past 24 hours, while total trading volume surged 28.07% to US$27.33 billion.
• BNB rebounded 0.68% to change hands at US$246.5, despite reports of Binance France and its parent company, Binance Holdings, facing a lawsuit in France for alleged misleading business practices and fraudulent concealment. Binance was reportedly sued by 15 investors in France in a complaint filed on Dec. 14.
• Dogecoin extended its holiday losses by 2.77% on Tuesday to US$0.07375. The memecoin has been on a losing streak since Twitter owner Elon Musk, an influential supporter of the cryptocurrency, announced that he would be stepping down as the company’s chief executive officer.
• Several global markets have been boosted by China’s announcement on Monday to scrap inbound Covid quarantine rules from Jan. 8, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average which closed 0.11% higher on Tuesday.
• However, the S&P 500 closed Tuesday down 0.40%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.38%, as reports hinted that housing price growth in the U.S. has started to slow down in 2022.