Bitcoin and Ether Experience Minimal Fluctuations During a Day of Market Decline; Forkast NFT 500 Index Exhibits a Dip.
Bitcoin and Ether traded relatively unchanged, but most of the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies had a downtrend day in Asia. Litecoin led the losers, while Dogecoin was up, but down for the week after Elon Musk said he had switched his interest from cryptocurrency to AI. XRP gained but is still embroiled in a conflict with the SEC with a ruling expected in the middle of the year. Ripple Labs is still posting 69 open jobs for software engineers globally, indicating a bet on expansion and growth. The total crypto market capitalisation remained relatively unchanged while total trading volume increased. The Forkast NFT 500 index, measuring the performance of the global NFT market, dipped slightly below 4,306. Meanwhile, Ethereum, the leading blockchain network for NFTs, saw a rise in sales of 38.93% to $22.4m. Sales on Solana, the second largest NFT blockchain, rose 17.4% to $3m, and NFT sales on Polygon surged over 500% to $2.38m putting the network in the top three.
The concerns over the solvency of US crypto bank Silvergate and its potential failure are still clouding the market. The White House press secretary confirmed that President Joe Biden’s administration is aware of Silvergate’s situation and will continue to monitor developments. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.12%, the S&P 500 edged up 0.07%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 0.11%. Investors are turning cautious, as recent economic readings point to US inflation being more entrenched than previously thought, while Fed officials have said steeper interest rate hikes might be required if the data continue suggest an overheated economy.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday this week where investors will look for pointers on where the central bank’s policy stands for its meeting later this month on raising interest rates. The CME Group have predicted that there is a 68.6% chance for a raise of 25 basis points this month, and a 31.4% chance for a raise of 50 basis points, up from 27.0%.
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