Matic biggest loser among top 10; Bitcoin falls, Ether dips below US$1,600 

Matic was the biggest loser in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, falling alongside most other cryptos and with Ether falling below US$1,600. Despite Bitcoin’s sluggish price action, industry experts say that institutions continue adopting the world’s first cryptocurrency. 

See related article: Weekly Market Wrap: Deutsche Bank’s crypto move propels Bitcoin to US$26,750

MATIC biggest loser among top 10 cryptos

Polygon’s Matic token was the biggest loser in the top 10 cryptos, falling 2.2% in the 24 hours leading up to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, to US$0.524. The last time Matic was trading at these levels was over a year ago in July 2022.

Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency, fell 1.03% in the past 24 hours to US$26,688, remaining under the US$27,000 support level since yesterday.

Despite Bitcoin’s lagging price action, institutional adoption continues to grow with notable companies like Square and Japan’s Nomura Bank, according to Manuel Ferrari, the co-founder of Money On Chain, the first Bitcoin-backed stablecoin protocol on Rootstock.

“This trend suggests that established entities are recognizing Bitcoin as a store of value or an investment asset. Their involvement not only contributes to the current transaction volume but also signals confidence in Bitcoin’s future potential,” Ferrari told Forkast.

Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, fell 1.28% to US1,597. The coin dipped to a weekly low of US$1,573, after losing the US$1,600 support level earlier today.

The total crypto market capitalization over the past 24 hours fell 0.91% to US$1.06 trillion while market volume increased 3.20% to US$28.54 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Solana remains second-largest blockchain by daily NFT sales volume; BAYC sales surge 184%

The Forkast 500 NFT index fell 1.46% in the past 24 hours to a new all-time low of 1,998.68 points. 

Solana remained the second-largest blockchain network by 24-hour NFT sales volume, after sales rose 29.26% to US$1.36 million, boosted by a 46% sales increase in the Reavers collection that generated US$464,648 for the network, according to CryptoSlam.

Despite the stronger sales figures, the Forkast SOL NFT Composite fell 1.73% during the day.

Over on Ethereum, sales for the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) rose 184.35% in the past 24 hours to US$632,770. NFT sales on Ethereum rose 26.34% to US$5.76 million, also boosted by a 28.46% sales increase in the Sorare collection.