Bitcoin Price Ebbs Toward $10,000 as Mid-Week Slump Continues
The market’s mid-week slump continued on Thursday, as just three of the index’s 100 largest cryptocurrencies managed to post single-day increases against the US dollar. Following the day’s bearish pivot, the Bitcoin price is at risk of dropping below $10,000, while other top coins continue to shed market share. Source: CoinMarketCapAltogether, the cryptocurrency market cap took a seven percent hit, declining to $445.2 billion after entering the day at $479.6 billion. Bitcoin Price Risks Falling into Sub-$10,000 TerritoryThe Bitcoin price returned an index-matching seven percent decline, which forced the value of the flagship cryptocurrency down to $10,274 on Bitfinex. This signifies a more than $1,500 decline since Tuesday when the Bitcoin price appeared poised to punch past resistance at $12,000. Bitcoin now has a $175.2 billion market cap. This translates into a 39.4 percent market share, which — notably — represents a 0.3 percent increase from its previous-day level, indicating that traders are rotating their holdings back into Bitcoin. Bitcoin Price ChartThere does not appear to be a definitive trigger for the decline. Perhaps, unsure about the duration of the recovery, traders wise enough to strengthen their positions when Bitcoin was trading near $6,000 are taking money off the table to secure profits. Ethereum Price Holds Above $825The Ethereum price endured a similar plight, declining about seven-and-one-third percent to reach a present value of $826 on Bitfinex. Ethereum can now claim an $81.2 billion market cap, which translates into an 18.2 percent market share. Ethereum Price ChartAltcoins Continue to Shed Market ShareAltcoins, meanwhile, failed to capitalize on the struggles faced by the two largest cryptocurrencies. Just three coins in the top 100 rose against the dollar, and a variety of top-tier cryptocurrencies could not even keep pace with the index’s seven percent pullback. Third-ranked Ripple declined by seven percent, causing its price to plunge back below dollar parity. Bitcoin Cash, however, performed even worse. The fourth-largest cryptocurrency took a 10 percent hit that reduced its price to $1,240. Litecoin and Cardano each declined by about six-and-a-half percent, causing their prices to decline to present values of $205 and $0.32, respectively. The EOS price declined by eight percent and is now trading just above $8. NEO, ranked eighth, declined by seven percent, while Stellar’s eight percent decline reduced its price to $0.36. Rounding out the top 10 was IOTA, which posted a 10 percent decline and is currently valued at $1.71. Featured image from Shutterstock