Crypto Markets Slump Again, With Bitcoin Holding Gains

Saturday, Aug. 11: after short-lived recovery attempt yesterday, cryptocurrencies have suffered another slump today. Almost all cryptocurrencies are down by significant percentages, with Bitcoin (BTC) being a notable exception among the top 20 market cap, up under one percent on the day.

Crypto market visualization from Coin360

Bitcoin is trading sideways, up by about 0.1 percent over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency is at the $6,438 price mark as of press time, following a dip to as low as $6,051 earlier today.

After surging to about $8,230 on July 25, BTC is down 8.5 percent on the week. However, the coin is still up 1 percent over the past 30 days.

Bitcoin price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Bitcoin Price Index

After losing the $400 support this Monday,  Ethereum (ETH) has plunged to as low as $306 today. It is now trading at $327, with its price 8 percent down over the 24 hour period.

Unusually, the coin has experienced the heaviest losses among top ten coins by market cap on the day. Ethereum has lost 25 percent of its value over the past 30 days, and more than 50 percent over the past three months.

Ethereum price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Ethereum Price Index

Among the top 20 altcoins by market cap, EOS and IOTA (MIOTA) have seen the largest losses over the past 7 days, according to Coinmarketcap. At press time, EOS is trading at $5.23, having lost around 25 percent of value over the past week, while IOTA is down 36 percent on the week, and is trading at $0.54.

Total market capitalization has dipped to as low as $206 billion today, but the markets have managed to retrace some of those losses, bringing the number to $216 billion as of press time. While the total market cap has dipped to levels not seen since mid-November last year, the number of all digital currencies has recently surpassed 1,800, according to Coinmarketcap.

Total market capitalization chart. Source: Coinmarketcap

Today, Bitcoin’s share of the total market cap has reached 50 percent for the first time in 2018, as a result of continuous growth that began in May. For comparison, back on Jan. 1, Bitcoin’s dominance was around 37 percent.

Bitcoin’s share of total market cap (dominance). Source: Coinmarketcap

Earlier this week, Fundstrat’s head of research Tom Lee cited Bitcoin’s dominance as one of the most important factors of how the market is “reacting to what’s been taking place” in the industry.

On Wednesday, Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead claimed that crypto markets are reflecting some overreaction from the investors. According to Morehead, many have exaggerated the importance of the recent postponement of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision on a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application by companies VanEck and SolidX.

In addition to recommending investors to focus on the Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) announcement of its own crypto platform, Morehead pointed out that Bitcoin is still up about 82 percent on the year, noting that "it's all perspective."