Following yesterday’s big rally, the cryptocrypto market is cooling its heels a bit.
Total market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies peaked yesterday at around $263 billion. Today, that figure is down to about $247 billion—a drop of $16 billion in less than 24 hours.
That could be due to a selloff in altcoinsaltcoins in favor of Bitcoin, which is still trading today at close to $9,000 per coin.
Bitcoin dominance over crypto market spikes to 2017 levels
Bitcoin is once again silencing its critics, skyrocketing up the price charts, and smashing altcoins in its wake. According to data shared by Messari researcher Ryan Watkins, Bitcoin is close to achieving the same market dominance that it reached following the 2017 bull run. Bitcoin’s “dominance rate” essentially indicates Bitcoin’s current share of the total market cap for crypto. A high dominance rate demonstrates that investors find Bitcoin more attractive right now than all other crypto comp...
Bitcoin gained around $1,000 to its price yesterday, surging 15% and rising all the way up to $9,400 before coming back down to $8,800 today.
The sudden surge in interest seemingly proved too much for some exchanges to handle. Trading came to a halt on Coinbase, which experienced prolonged technical difficulties just as Bitcoin was pumping. Coinbase said that as many as 61,000 Bitcoins—worth more than $500 million—were traded through its exchange on Wednesday.
But while Bitcoin trading has cooled a bit, altcoins have taken a more pronounced tumble. Ethereum is down close to 2%, trading at $211, while XRP has fallen more than 5%. Bitcoin, by comparison, is down less than 1%—and continues to track the stock market.
The S&P 500 likewise closed the day down less than 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, dropped just over 1%, losing 300 points on the day. But, despite today’s slight dip, the stock market had its best month of trading in over 30 years.
