The cryptocurrency market experienced mixed movements during Tuesday's trading session. Bitcoin saw a slight increase, while Ether slipped, and the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies displayed a range of performances.

Bitcoin inched up by 0.01% during the day, reaching a price of US$26,770. However, it briefly touched the US$27,000 mark before retracing. On the other hand, Ether fell by 0.46% to US$1,726 during the same timeframe.

Among the top 10 cryptocurrencies, Solana's SOL token emerged as the biggest gainer, rising by 2.8% to US$15.90. Polygon's Matic token also experienced a gain of 1.32% to reach US$0.6063. Despite these positive movements, the overall crypto investor sentiment remained subdued due to the recent lawsuits filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against major platforms like Binance and Coinbase.

Looking ahead, some investors anticipate significant growth in Bitcoin's value, correlating it with the upcoming halving event scheduled for April 2024. They believe that the current market cycle mirrors the historical cycle observed between 2015 and 2017. As a result, they expect Bitcoin to surpass the US$50,000 mark by April 2024, followed by further growth until mid-summer or fall 2025.

In terms of market capitalization, the total crypto market cap increased by 0.64% to US$1.07 trillion in the past 24 hours, accompanied by a 44.64% surge in trading volume to US$28.82 billion, as reported by CoinMarketCap.

In the non-fungible token (NFT) market, the Forkast 500 NFT index declined by 0.59% to 2,861.58 points within a 24-hour period. Bitcoin's 24-hour NFT sales showed consecutive growth, rising by 62.87% to US$3.1 million. Ethereum's NFT sales, after a weak Monday, rebounded by 9.39% to US$13.57 million. Notably, sales for the Bored Ape Yacht Club, the largest Ethereum-native collection, increased by 4.43% to US$1.7 million.

Shifting focus to Asian equities, major markets exhibited mixed performance following China's decision to cut two benchmark interest rates in an effort to stimulate its struggling economy. However, investor concerns regarding the adequacy of the measures taken by Beijing lingered. The Nikkei 225 inched up by 0.055%, the Shenzhen Component Index rose by 0.28%, the Hang Seng Index fell by 1.54%, and the Shanghai Composite decreased by 0.47%.

In the United States, stock futures weakened as markets resumed trading after a holiday. The S&P 500 futures index fell by 0.81%, the Nasdaq-100 futures dropped by 0.57%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures decreased by 0.40%. Investors eagerly await speeches by Federal Reserve officials, including New York Fed President John Williams, who may provide further insights into the central bank's stance on inflation and the overall state of the economy.