Bitcoin Price Eyes $4,000 as Combined Market Tops $135 Billion
The crypto markets continued to climb on Tuesday, with the vast majority of top 100 cryptocurrencies posting moderate gains. The bitcoin price rose to within striking distance of $4,000, while the ethereum price edged past $290 to continue its march toward $300. Altogether, the markets added more than $5 billion.
The total crypto market cap began the day at $131.5 billion, having risen past the $130 billion mark the day before. Monday afternoon, it quickly shot up to $135 billion and eventually rose to a present value of $137.2 billion–its highest point since September 20.
Bitcoin Price Eyes $4,000
The bitcoin price led the advance with a 4% increase. After falling close to $3,500 a few days ago, bitcoin is once again challenging the $4,000 mark. Within the past day, the bitcoin price has risen from $3,762 to $3,934, placing it just $66 below this psychologically-important threshold. Bitcoin now has a market cap of $65.3 billion.
Some analysts have attributed this movement to increasing tensions between North Korea and the United States, noting parallels to similar events last month. Another factor that is likely influencing bitcoin’s climb is the continued emergence of Asian markets such as South Korea and Japan in the wake of China’s ban on cryptocurrency exchanges. Notably, South Korean messaging platform Kakao announced the creation of a new cryptocurrency exchange, named Upbit. Developers say it will support 110 cryptocurrencies and predict it will be the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea.
Ethereum Price Crosses $290
The ethereum price did not climb as quickly as bitcoin on Tuesday, but it did manage to post a 1% gain to continue its gradual climb. Though minor, this positive movement enabled the ethereum price to tick up past $290. The ethereum price currently rests at $291–less than $9 below the $300 mark. This gives ethereum a market cap of $27.6 billion.
Litecoin Recovers Past $50
The altcoin markets were characterized continued upward movement, with every cryptocurrency in the top 15 posting at least a minor gain.
Bitcoin cash rose more than 4%, bringing its price to $451 and market cap to $7.5 billion. Ripple increased 3% following news that the FinTech startup was opening a new office in Singapore, further increasing its Asian presence.
The litecoin price advanced 7% following a disappointing week. Today’s trading helped the litecoin price recover past the $50 mark to a present value of $52. Dash, on the other hand, rose just 1%, causing it fall behind litecoin on the market cap charts.
Seventh-place NEM rose 5%, while IOTA increased by 1%. The Monero price rose 3%, lifting its market cap to $1.4 billion. NEO–which recently supplanted ethereum classic as the 10th-largest cryptocurrency–continued its dramatic rise with a 21% climb to $26.
