Bitcoin Prices Hold Above $27,000 Line, Ether Sees Weekly Drop

On Wednesday morning, Bitcoin prices experienced a slight decline but managed to stay above the $27,000 mark. Meanwhile, Ether saw a marginal increase but still reported a weekly drop. Among the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies, Ripple's XRP emerged as the biggest gainer following a favorable ruling in the ongoing legal battle between Ripple Labs and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The positive news surrounding Ripple's lawsuit contributed to XRP's upward momentum. In the political arena, U.S. equity futures showed gains as President Joe Biden and Congress made progress on the matter of raising the debt ceiling.

According to CoinMarketCap data, Bitcoin recorded a 0.87% decrease to $27,036.75 within the 24-hour period ending at 7:35 a.m. in Hong Kong. Over the past seven days, it experienced a 2.05% loss.

Ether, on the other hand, witnessed a 0.28% increase to $1,825.91, but suffered a weekly loss of 1.10%.

The remaining top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies displayed mixed trading patterns on Wednesday morning. Ripple's XRP led the gainers by rising 2.68% to $0.4399.

XRP's surge was driven by Judge Analisa Torres' decision in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to deny the SEC's motion to seal the controversial Hinman Speech documents. These documents refer to a speech given by former SEC official William Hinman on June 14, 2018. In that speech, Hinman stated that the SEC did not consider Bitcoin or Ethereum as securities. This statement holds significant importance in Ripple's ongoing legal dispute with the SEC, as the regulator accuses Ripple of providing unregistered securities.

Conversely, Polygon's Matic experienced the highest losses among the top 10 non-stablecoins, with a 2.21% decrease to $0.8442 and a 3.56% drop over the past week.

The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market saw a 0.93% decrease within the past 24 hours, amounting to $1.13 trillion. Additionally, the total trading volume declined by 7% to $28.74 billion.

Bitcoin Poised to Challenge Ethereum's NFT Dominance?

In the non-fungible token (NFT) market, the Forkast 500 NFT index recorded a minor loss of 0.13% at 3,378.53 points within the 24-hour period ending at 7:30 a.m. in Hong Kong, representing a 2.32% decrease for the week.

Yehudah Petscher, an NFT analyst at CryptoSlam, attributed this decline to low volume and high transaction fees in crypto trading.

Within the same 24-hour period, NFT sales on Ethereum, the leading blockchain for NFTs, rose by 2.16% to $18.6 million. Sales on the Bitcoin blockchain secured the second position on Cryptoslam's blockchain ranking, surging by 32.11% to $4.6 million.

Yehudah predicts that Bitcoin NFTs are just beginning to gain traction and anticipates that Bitcoin will compete directly with Ethereum's all-time sales, possibly surpassing them.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection registered the highest sales volume in the past 24 hours, increasing by 8% to $2.48 million. Cryptoslam reported that all 24 highest individual NFT sales during that period were Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, with BAYC #466 fetching 98 ETH (equivalent to $178,751).

The Milady Maker collection ranked second in terms of NFT collection sales volume on Cryptoslam. It experienced a surge of 207.61% within the past 24 hours, amounting to $1.3 million. This collection gained significant attention last week after Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter and Tesla, tweeted an image containing the Milady NFT.

Traders should anticipate a slower week in the NFT market, as many members of the NFT community will be attending the VeeCon Web3 conference in Indianapolis from May 18-20.

Yehudah from Cryptoslam remarked, "Those who believe NFTs can function as access passes, art, and collectibles all in one are in for a treat." He also mentioned that the market might experience a slowdown due to networking opportunities, but also emphasized that there will always be enthusiasts actively participating in the market.

U.S. Stock Futures Rise Amid Positive Debt Ceiling Talks

U.S. stock futures exhibited positive momentum as of 9:30 a.m. in Hong Kong, with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures showing a 0.15% increase. The S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq Composite futures also experienced gains of 0.19% and 0.24% respectively. Investors are hopeful for a resolution to the U.S. debt crisis.

President Joe Biden recently met with Congressional leaders to discuss an agreement that would allow for an increase in the debt ceiling. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen previously warned Congress on May 1 that the country could start failing to meet debt payment obligations as early as June 1, which could lead to a debt default and wider economic repercussions both domestically and globally.

After an hour-long meeting at the White House, Biden expressed optimism, stating that the discussion had been productive. House Representative Kevin McCarthy concurred, suggesting that an agreement on raising the debt ceiling could be reached by the end of the week.

Yellen reiterated her warning, emphasizing that a debt default would result in an income shock that could trigger a recession, leading to job losses and business closures in the country. She urged for prompt action in raising the debt ceiling, highlighting the increasing debt burden as the stalemate drives borrowing costs higher.

During regular trading on Tuesday, the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite all experienced losses following the release of earnings reports earlier in the day. Major retailer Home Depot reported a 4.2% year-on-year drop in revenue for the first quarter and cautioned investors about the possibility of seeing its first annual sales decline since 2009.

Investors are now eagerly awaiting more earnings reports from companies such as Tencent Holdings, Cisco Inc., Siemens AG, Target Corp., and others on Wednesday.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is expected to share his views on interest rate hikes on Friday, ahead of the Fed's next interest rate decision scheduled for June 14. The current rate range of 5% to 5.25% represents the highest level since 2006. The CME FedWatch Tool predicts a 77.5% chance that the Fed will maintain rates unchanged in June. However, it also indicates a 22.5% probability of a 25 basis-point rate hike.