Market highlights February 8: Crypto markets higher, Facebook eyes Europe exit

The crypto markets were higher this morning, with the majority of top 10 cryptos registering gains over the past 24 hours. 

Meta Platforms’ shares plunged 5.29% yesterday after Mark Zuckerberg warned they might pull out of Europe over a data dispute. The social media giant might be forced to stop offering Facebook and Instagram in Europe if it loses the right to transfer user data back to the US.

US stocks were mixed yesterday following a choppy session. Travel stocks were among the best performers, with Royal Caribbean Cruises (+8.36%) and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (+8.25%) as notable gainers.

Tech firms were among the worst-performing stocks yesterday, with PayPal Holdings (-3.93%) and Spotify (-1.83%) among the decliners.

Bank stocks lifted the UK100 (+0.58%) higher yesterday as investors bet that rising interest rates would boost the sector’s profits.

Top cryptos

Bitcoin was trading above $45,000 at time of writing, up around 5%. Ethereum climbed around 3%, and Cardano registered gains of 7%. XRP jumped around 21% on positive news surrounding the SEC lawsuit.

Outside the top 10, Shiba Inu was up over 22%, posting these impressive gains for the second day in a row. The canine meme coin is surging on news of token burns. The next one is scheduled on February 14, St. Valentine’s Day.

Top movers

Most top 100 coins were trading in the range of +/-5% of their values yesterday. A notable positive exception is Revain, which briefly hit #100. It has gained 41% so far today as its token presale on February 14 approaches.

Other winners include Kadena (+21%), IoTex (+25%), and Holo (+7%). At the other end of the spectrum are Render and Helium (both -9%), Bora (-7%), and metaverse coins Gala (-10%) and Axie (-8%).

Trending

Smooth Love Potion, an in-game digital currency in the Axie Infinity metaverse game, added almost 50% to its value today despite Axie’s own rather lackluster performance.

WOO Network’s native token WOO is poised to break the top 100. It is trading for around $0.77 and added 16% to its value in the last 24 hours due to a Binance listing.