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Bitcoin moved back above US$28,000 in Monday morning trading in Asia, leading a rally among all top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies. Ethereum broke through the resistance ceiling of US$1,900. The gains followed an in-principle agreement between U.S. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin Mccarthy to raise the country’s debt ceiling, which boosted investors’ appetite for risk assets.
Crypto
Bitcoin rose 3.98% over the last 24 hours to US$28,195 at 9:30 a.m. in Hong Kong. It recorded a weekly gain of 5.73%, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The world’s largest cryptocurrency moved above US$28,000 for the first time since May 10.
Ether jumped 3.48% in the past 24 hours to US$1,916, moving up 6.53% over the past seven days. It was trading above the US$1,900 mark for the first time in three weeks.
Cryptocurrency prices received a boost after U.S. President Biden on Saturday said he had reached an in-principle agreement with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to raise the government’s debt ceiling, which averts the threat of a default in the world’s biggest economy. If ratified, the agreement would run through Jan. 1, 2025.
Both parties are now urging U.S. Congress to pass the deal by June 5 – the deadline set by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The talks had rattled investors for weeks as a debt default in the U.S. could have caused panic in global markets.
The sense of relief among investors that a deal is on the verge of completion has led to “fresh buying of risk assets,” said Markus Thielen, Head of Crypto Research & Strategy at digital asset service platform Matrixport, in a note shared with Forkast.
“So many investors were scared about the debt ceiling and the potential default by the U.S. government – which is just so unlikely. Now, they need to find something else to be bearish about while the market likely rallies,” said Thielen.
With Bitcoin taking the lead, all other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies traded higher over the past 24 hours. The total market cap for cryptocurrencies rose 3.00% in that period to US$1.17 trillion. The 24-hour trading volume also jumped 57.01% to US$31.73 billion.
Neo, the token that supports China-affiliated Neo blockchain, saw the largest weekly gain in the top 100 cryptocurrencies. It rose 23.83% to US$11.37. Neo is backed by Onchain, a Chinese blockchain company and member of the country’s internet finance industry lobby.
Neo outperformed most other larger-cap cryptocurrencies in the past week with investors now “positioning themselves for the Hong Kong opening event,” said Thielen of Matrixport.