Bitcoin and Ethereum have a mid-week siesta as trading volumes take a plunge

The crypto markets kept a steady pace on Wednesday morning, adding 1.4% to the now US$1.07tn market capitalisation.

Bitcoin stayed around the US$23,000 mark while Ethereum enjoyed a slightly better 3.28% gain to US$1,640.

Among the days top risers were Ethereum scaling solution Optimism with a 17% gain, staking platform Lido DAO with a 17.5% gain, and the Bored Ape Yacht Clubs ApeCoin with a 10% gain.

The US$13bn Solana network took a 3.5% hit to its market capitalisation, while major Chinese crypto exchange Huobi Global and fan-engagement platform Chiliz were also among the biggest daily losers.

Underscoring the mid-week slump in activity was a 8.34% decline in trading volumes across the wider crypto ecosystem.

In the decentralised finance (DeFi) space, decentralised exchange Uniswap regained 4.7% of lost ground after downtrending this week, while Aave enjoyed a 5.7% run over the past 24 hours.

Total DeFi volumes now stand at US$87.43bn, a slight 1% daily drop.