Markets: Bitcoin, Ether fall; Solana, BNB slip, while Cardano rises

Bitcoin and Ether reversed from morning gains in Friday afternoon trading in Asia. Solana was the biggest loser among the top 10 coins by market capitalization, followed by BNB.

See related article: Markets: Ethereum, Ethereum Classic lead crypto gains as Bitcoin posts modest gains

Fast facts

• Bitcoin traded down 1.34% in the past 24 hours to change hands at US$21,440 as of 4 p.m. Hong Kong time. Ethereum dropped 2.91% to US$1,656, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
• The two largest coins by market cap, however, have made up some ground from last week’s slump that at one stage drove Bitcoin below US$21,000. Bitcoin was down 2.32% over the past seven days and Ethereum was off 5.02%.
• Solana fell 4.1% in the prior 24 hours to US$34.64, and BNB slipped 3.1%. Cardano, however, gained 3.1%.
• Asia equity markets had a mixed day. The Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.31%, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng index rose 1.01%. The Nikkei 225 index ended trading up 0.57%.
• U.S. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to give a keynote speech at the central bank’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at 10 a.m. Eastern Time (10 p.m. Hong Kong) on Friday. Investors will be looking at signals coming out from the meeting for guidance on the direction of interest rates.

See related article: Binance to suspend ETH deposits, withdrawals during “The Merge”