While the crypto space in the United States is facing regulatory pressure, the situation is different in Hong Kong, which is taking steps towards broader adoption and embracing blockchain technology.

As of June 1st, 2023, Hong Kong will officially legalize the purchase, sales and trading of crypto for all its citizens. Recently, the Hong Kong government has also issued the world’s first tokenized $100 million green bond, representing a major milestone in adopting blockchain technology in the financial sector.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) has been making significant gains, soaring over \(24,000 to reach its 8-month high, which has not been seen since mid-June 2022. [BTC](https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc) touched \)24,700 before retracing a bit to around \(24,500, with a remarkable 7.57% rise in the past 24 hours. Short trades made up 87% of \)201 million in losses due to the price surge over the past 24 hours.

On-chain data indicates that the current price momentum can be traced back to a mysterious fund that started pouring money into the crypto market on February 10th. Additionally, some investors speculate that recent movements by the SEC against stablecoins and staking have led investors to convert their altcoins into Bitcoin, which has contributed to its recent surge.

Furthermore, BTC has just moved out of the Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL) negative zone, which prompted bullish sentiments among some investors, who expected it to move toward $25,000. However, some investors remain cautious and warn of a possible “bear trap.”

The rest of the top 10 cryptos rallied, with FLOKI extending its gains after Elon Musk’s tweet to mark a daily surge of 44.88%.

ETH rose by 5.47% over the past 24 hours, while MATIC (+7.24%) continued to be the best winner among the top 10 cryptos, thanks to the impact of positive news.

Top altcoin gainers and losers

Gainers:

• Floki Inu FLOKI (+44.88%)
• Optimism OP (+13.96%)
• OKX OKB (+12.49%)

Losers:

• Binance USD BUSD (-4.51%)
• Dai DAI (-2.86%)
• PAX Gold PAXG (-2.10%)

NFT Market Map

SewerPass came back to the top with a 1,613.82% surge in volume traded as BAYC announced that holders can re-enter the sewer on February 22nd for a separate leaderboard.

Captainz (+611.86%) landed as the best performer among the top 10 NFT collections by daily volume as the community was talking about their latest sneak peek.

Otherdeed (+119.46% ) saw the most volume in ETH today since its mint in May thanks to higher value trades.

Coin360 Daily Digest

Here’s a rundown of the major crypto market news from today.

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Disclaimer: None of the information here constitutes financial advice and market participants are advised to conduct their own research since cryptocurrencies are speculative assets with considerable risks.