Crypto Market Pulls Back, Bitcoin Drops 0.21%

The cryptocurrency market experienced a slight pullback, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading sideways and Ethereum (ETH) showing relative resilience. Bitcoin was trading around $94,000, with a 0.21% decrease in the last 24 hours. Ethereum, on the other hand, increased by 0.02% in the same period, maintaining its position near $1,800. The NFT and RWA sectors, which saw significant gains the previous day, experienced a pullback. The NFT sector fell by 4.43%, with Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) and Moca Coin (MOCA) dropping by 7.10% and 13.58%, respectively. The RWA sector declined by 2.84%, but Plume (PLUME) and Creditcoin (CTC) bucked the trend, rising by 4.49% and 5.41%, respectively.

In other sectors, the CeFi sector saw a 0.60% decrease in the last 24 hours, with LEO Token (LEO) showing relative strength with a 0.35% increase. The Layer1 sector declined by 1.31%, the DeFi sector by 2.25%, although Curve DAO (CRV) saw a 2.02% increase. The PayFi sector fell by 2.38%, where Monero (XMR) experienced an intraday high of 2.89%. The Layer2 sector dropped by 2.52%, and the Meme sector fell by 2.77%.

The cryptocurrency sector index reflecting historical market performance showed that the ssiNFT, ssiRWA, and ssiDeFi indices fell by 4.21%, 3.57%, and 2.93%, respectively, in the last 24 hours. However, the ssiNFT index achieved a weekly return rate of 17.66%.

Bitcoin's recent rally and resilience above $90,000 can be attributed to strong inflows into Bitcoin ETFs, growing institutional demand, and favorable crypto policies. However, investors have turned cautious ahead of key economic data releases and political developments. The Fear & Greed Index has climbed to 60, indicating a risk-on market sentiment, while the Bitcoin balance on exchanges has dropped, suggesting a potential strong rally in early May. Despite these positive indicators, BTC faces significant resistance between $95,000 and $96,000, which has thwarted attempts to move toward $100,000. The price has struggled to breach these levels at the upper end of its trading range, and a breakout could occur if momentum builds and price action breaks out of its recent sluggish pattern.

Ethereum's price action has been relatively stable, with the cryptocurrency continuing its attempts to reclaim $1,800. However, developments at the Ethereum Foundation, scalability issues, and growing competition from Layer2 networks have hampered ETH's performance relative to BTC and SOL. The foundation has taken steps to address these issues, announcing a major leadership shuffle and splitting the board and management. Under the new leadership structure, the board will be responsible for protecting the foundation's "heart and soul" and setting a new vision for Ethereum, while the new management will be responsible for executing the new vision strategically and operationally. Despite these changes, ETH has yet to respond, with sluggish price action continuing.

The overall market sentiment remains cautious, with investors awaiting key economic data releases and political developments. The slight pullback in the crypto market has been driven by a tepid note in US stock markets, as investors await key earning reports and economic data releases. Major tech firms, including Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft, declined during the session as shareholders prepared for upcoming quarterly results. Earnings during the previous quarter were relatively strong, with 73% of companies beating analyst estimates. However, analysts have lowered expectations for the second quarter and the remainder of the year amid concerns over the economic impact of tariffs.