Markets: Bitcoin, Ether rise; Dogecoin leads gains across most top 10 cryptos

Bitcoin extended its rally and rose nearly 2%. Top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization excluding stablecoins mostly strengthened on the day, led by Dogecoin’s 18% gain as Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter neared completion.

See related article: SEC takes no position on two motions in support of Ripple in XRP lawsuit 

Fast facts

• Bitcoin gained 1.9% in the past 24 hours to trade at US$20,714 at 4 p.m. in Hong Kong, and Ether rose 2.76% to US$1,556, according to data from CoinMarketCap. 

• Leading memecoin Dogecoin was the biggest gainer among top 10 cryptos as it strengthened 18.62% to US$0.0779 – its highest since mid-August – following news that Elon Musk, a major advocate for DOGE, is due to complete his US$44 million purchase of Twitter on Friday. Musk has hinted that he hopes to integrate Dogecoin into the social media platform. 

• XRP rose 2.1% to US$0.47 after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission decided it 0would take no position on two motions that were submitted by crypto wallet provider SpendTheBits and non-profit organization Investor Choice Advocates Network, which sought to support Ripple Labs Inc., whose payment network is powered by XRP, in its lawsuit with the SEC. 

• Polygon was the only top 10 crypto to decline, falling 0.4% to US$0.94. Shiba Inu increased 7.45% to US$0.0000112 and Cardano rose 1.63% to US$0.41. 

• Asia equity markets were mixed after Wall Street was similarly mixed overnight. The Nikkei 225 dropped 0.32% in Tokyo, the Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.55% down, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index gained 0.72%. 
• Indications of poor global economic performance were reported on Thursday, with Chinese industrial profits for the year to September declining 2.3% and consumer confidence in Sweden dropping 3.8 points to 48.3 in October, the second lowest in the country’s history after January 1993’s record low of 44.4. Third-quarter unemployment in Spain of 12.67% exceeded a forecast of 11.9%.

See related article: How Europe’s MiCA can pave the way for crypto’s revival