Bitcoin and Ethereum end losing streaks, mirroring Asian markets

Bitcoin and Ethereum snapped five days of losses, mirroring gains in equity markets and Asian tech stocks after China pledged to boost its economy.

The largest coin by market cap climbed 2.71% to US$39,432, moving further away from the key US$38,000 support level it has flirted with over the last week. Ethereum was up 4.40% to US$2.639.

Digital tokens had spiked even higher over night after Beijing vowed to support markets and its own property sector, prompting Kong’s Hang Seng Tech index to jump more than 20%

Investors now will be hoping bitcoin can push on further to the $40,000 resistance level. Since Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, Bitcoin has climbed by almost US$5,000, although still way short of highs seen at the end of last year.

Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst at GlobalBlock said digital tokens were also benefitting from increased hopes the industry will not suffer from over regulation. The EU’s decision this week not to ban Bitcoin mining was “a huge relief for the industry” as was more crypto-friendly noises from US President Joe Biden.

Sotiriou added further regulatory developments in the Middle East “show the support that crypto is receiving around the globe, as the industry is proving itself to be an unstoppable force towards mainstream adoption in the long term.”

In other news, Afghan citizens are turning to crypto in the face of US sanctions, failing banks and drying up of foreign aid since the Taliban regained control of the country.

Data from Chainanalysis, the crypto analytics firm, showed the use of crypto rose sharply since the takeover in August 2021.

Afghanistan now ranks 20 out of 154 countries for crypto adoption. Just a year ago the presence of digital currency was so minimal it was excluded from the ranking entirely.

In some of the altcoins, Solana was up 3.12% to US$82.34, Avalanche was up 3.30% to US$69.07 and Polkadot rose 4.46% to US$18.14.