The crypto markets slumped on Saturday following several days of consistent gains. Both bitcoin and ethereum prices slid into the red, and most altcoins experienced declines as well.
Bitcoin Price Falls Below $2,500
Today’s bitcoin price decline was not as pronounced as the one it experienced earlier this week, but it still fell 1.73% to $2,496. More important is the fact that the bitcoin price has experienced a fairly steady skid over the past seven days, as the chart below indicates. Bitcoin now has a market cap of just under $41 billion.
One must wonder if concern over the impending network fork is fueling the recent bitcoin price decline and encouraging investors to cash out recent gains in anticipation of a potential price dip following the fork. If such a dip does occur, proactive investors will be able to acquire coins at a steep discount from current prices.
Crypto Markets Drop Under $100 Billion
Earlier this week the total cryptocurrency market cap had inched its way back to $100 billion after the Monday Massacre, but today’s events erased that progress. The total market cap slid back beneath $100 billion and currently sits at $98.9 billion.
Ethereum Loses Ground
Earlier in June, the ethereum price managed to climb even when bitcoin and other altcoins fell. That has not been the case this week, as the downward trend has often hit ethereum worse than bitcoin. Today, ethereum price fell to $283. This 8% decrease caused ethereum to lose some ground in the fight to supplant bitcoin as the dominant cryptocurrency.
As tends to happen in widespread market downturns, bitcoin regained a bit of its market dominance. Bitcoin dominance rose to 41.5% for a 24-hour increase of 1%.
Ethereum controls a 26.7% market cap share with a total valuation of $26.4 billion, down from 27.7% on Friday. Once again, Ripple and litecoin held steady at 10% and 2% of total market cap.
Altcoin Prices Falter
Every altcoin in the top ten experienced a price decline. The Ripple price fell 2.3%, dropping its market cap below $10 billion. The litecoin price managed to stay above $40, but it still fell by 2.7%. Ethereum Classic dropped 5% following a social engineering hack of Classic Ether Wallet. NEM and Dash declined 4.76% and 2.42%, respectively. IOTA fell 9%, despite news of a new blockchain research partnership with prominent Norwegian healthcare providers. To round out the top ten, Monero fell 4.35% and BitShares fell by 7%.
Bytecoin Price Resists the Trend
A few altcoins managed to resist the slump. As the chart below demonstrates, the Bytecoin price rose 28% today, placing it 13th on the market cap charts. If Byetcoin can continue its upward trend, it could threaten to replace either Monero or BitShares in the top 10.
A few smaller altcoins rose as well. PIVX saw a 42% rise to $2.63 and the 39th spot on the market cap charts. Numeraire rose 45% to $53 and the 49th-largest valuation.
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