Asia’s financial markets are unnerved by reports of civil disobedience, demonstrations, and clashes with police in Chinese towns and colleges.
Bitcoin and Ether declined in Asia trading in tandem with equities markets in Hong Kong and elsewhere, because of concerns about the growth of protests in China over Covid-19 lockdowns, which evolved into rare public shows of dissent against the ruling Communist Party.
Bitcoin traded at $16,216 at 4:30 p.m. local time in Hong Kong, down 1.99% in the previous 24 hours after falling more than 2% earlier. The timeframe saw a 35% increase in trading volume, according to CoinMarketCap.
Ether dropped 3.48 percent to $1,172. According to on-chain researcher Lookonchain, a whale address sent 73,224 ETH (about $86 million) to the Binance exchange in the afternoon. In crypto markets, moving tokens to exchange is seen as a sell signal.
Asian stock markets faltered, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 4% at the start and 1.57% at the close. The Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.75 percent down, while the Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.42 percent.
On Friday, demonstrations erupted across China in response to a fire that killed at least ten people in an apartment building in Urumqi, in the northwestern province of Xinjiang. As a result of China’s zero-covid policy, a large number of individuals were apparently unable to flee their homes.
Also Read: Putin Proposes A Blockchain-Based Global Payment System
Wallets