Crypto Markets Teeter on New Year's Eve

Monday, Dec. 31 — on the cusp of the new year, all but one of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap are in the red, as data from Coin360 shows. Losses among the larger cryptos are tempered, with most losing 2-3 percent, and losses capped at 6 percent.

Market visualization by Coin360

Market visualization by Coin360

Bitcoin (BTC) has seen a mild loss of around 2 percent over the 24 hours to press time, currently trading at $3,816. The closing week of 2018 has been a volatile one, with Bitcoin breaking above $4,200 Dec. 24, before sustaining several days of losses to trade close to the $3,600 mark Dec. 28. Throughout much of the week, the coin has mostly traded sideways in the $3,800-$4,000 range.

After the week’s shaky performance, Bitcoin is now 6 percent down on its 7-day chart: losses on the month are around 11 percent. On the year, Bitcoin is down 72 percent — having traded around $13,400 on Dec. 31, 2017.

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Cointelegraph’s Bitcoin Price Index

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Cointelegraph’s Bitcoin Price Index

Ripple (XRP) — the second largest crypto by market cap — is down a similarly mild 2 percent on the day, and is trading at around $0.36 to press time. The asset’s 7-day trading pattern has been closely correlated with that of Bitcoin’s — peaking at as high as $0.44 Dec. 24, and reaching an intra-week low of $0.34 on Dec. 28.

Ripple’s typical trading range over much of the week has been $0.36-$0.38; today’s renewed losses have brought the asset to just shy of 2 percent lower than its value at the start of its 7-day chart. Monthly losses are at a fairly mild 4.5 percent. On the year, Ripple is down close to 85 percent.

Ripple 7-day price chart. Source: Cointelegraph’s Ripple Price Index

Ripple 7-day price chart. Source: Cointelegraph’s Ripple Price Index

Ethereum (ETH) — ranked third by market cap — is down under 1 percent on the day and trading at $138 at press time. Following an intra-week high of over $156 Dec. 24, the altcoin has dipped below $115 on Dec. 28, but saw a second flush of positive momentum over subsequent days — inching back close to $150 on Dec. 29.

Ethereum is around 10 percent in the red on its 7-day chart as of press time. The coin has seen growth on the month, with a 23 percent gain. On the year, Ethereum is down close to 82 percent.

Ethereum 7-day price chart. Source: Cointelegraph’s Ethereum Price Index

Ethereum 7-day price chart. Source: Cointelegraph’s Ethereum Price Index

Among the remaining top twenty coins on CoinMarketCap, NEM (XEM) has sustained the highest losses on the day — down close to 6 percent at press time. EOS (EOS) and recently forked Bitcoin SV (BSV) are both down around 3 percent on the day to press time. Litecoin (LTC) is also pushing a 3 percent loss as of press time, while Cardano (ADA) is seeing almost 4 percent daily losses.

An outlier among the top twenty is Binance crypto exchange’s native token Binance Coin (BNB) — the only top coin in the green as of press time — which is up 3.46 percent to trade at $6.15.

Total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is at around $127.7 billion as of press time, down from an intraweek high of over $146.3 billion on Dec. 24. As compared with one year ago, total crypto market cap is down about 78 percent.

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