For a number of weeks before New Year the good times rolled for cryptocurrency enthusiasts as markets went from strength to strength and new records highs were made across the board. A different picture has been painted in January as they’ve have largely been down trending following a high on January 7 when total market capacity reached a record $832 billion. Since that day the markets have fallen by 33% to around $558 billion where they sit today. Bearish on cryptoBitcoin reached the lowest point since the end of November last week but rallied back to $11,600 during today’s Asian trading session. However this is down from a high of $12,800 just two days ago indicating that the bears maybe taking hold once again and causing the market correction. The altcoin board is a sea of red today as they are also all down but as much as 14% in some cases in a pattern that is now becoming quite repetitive. Bitcoin is still the king of crypto and its siblings usually follow suit in either direction. Ethereum has lost around 8.3% over the past 24 hours at the time of writing according to Livecoinwatch – this is a fall to around $1,060 from $1,190 a couple of days ago. However it should be noted that ETH is still showing a strong resistance to the downward slide of Bitcoin’s price since its all-time high of nearly $20,000. Asian exchanges are dominating the trade and there is a selling mood this morning. Ripple has fallen by a similar 8.5% in the past 24 hours now shedding over 60% of its value since that high of $3.8 on January 5. Bitcoin Cash, Cardano and Litecoin have all followed suit dropping on average ten percent. This market correction has yet to reach the lows of last week’s mass selloff which was largely fueled by another clampdown in China and a lot of media FUD. Whale pressureThe expiration of the first futures contract may also have taken its toll on the markets. By offering these contracts to institutional traders through well-established financial exchanges and trading houses raises the specter of whales being able to manipulate the markets to spark a selloff if they have shorted the contract. As it turns out the bears came out victorious for the first XBT F8 contract from CBoE as it was settled at a price of $10,900, well down on the $17,000 that BTC was trading around when they were launched. There could be more downward pressure on markets when the CME contracts expire in a few days on January 26. The CME contracts are tied to 5 Bitcoin’s whereas CBoE’s contract was only one, the stakes are larger this time and the markets could be feeling it already. Crypto Market Endures Minor Correction Led by Asian Markets was last modified: April 1st, 2018 by Martin Young