Ethereum Price Rally Continues Despite Market Cool Off
The crypto markets cooled off on Wednesday following their early-week resurgence. Most coins experienced a slight decline into the red, although a few saw moderate gains. Ethereum, however, did not get the memo, because the ether token price continued to keep its foot on the gas.
The July 18 rally briefly brought the total value of all cryptocurrencies back across the $90 billion threshold, a $30 billion increase from what it was during the middle of the weekend crash. Unfortunately, the crypto market cap could not sustain support for that mark. It has since tapered off to its present value of about $84 billion.
Ethereum Price Defies Sluggish Market
Ethereum was the lone standout in Wednesday’s sluggish market. Although it could not sustain its Tuesday peak of $268, the ethereum price still returned an impressive 9% daily gain. At present, the ethereum price is $220. Ethereum’s recovery has swung its market cap back past the $20 billion mark.
Ethereum also saw an explosion in trading volume, as more than $3 billion worth of ether changed hands in the past 24 hours. This was more than double the size of bitcoin volume during the same time-frame.
Bitcoin Price Treads Water
Although bitcoin did not gain any ground on Wednesday, it fared better than most other coins. The bitcoin price held steady, declining just 0.5% to $2,316 after climbing as high as $2,387 on Tuesday. Its market cap continues to hover at the $38 billion mark.
Despite the recent bitcoin price volatility, John McAfee, the eccentric cybersecurity pioneer, predicts the bitcoin price will hit be at least $500,000 by 2020. He is so confidant in his foresight that he has promisedi to consume a piece of his own anatomy on live television if he is proven wrong, although one imagines the entire segment would have to be censored.
In less hyperbolic news, Swissquote–a leading European banking group–has partnered with Bitstamp to add BTC/EUR and BTC/USD trading pairs to its online platform. Bitstamp CEO Nejc Kodrič believes this move is an important step toward fully integrating bitcoin into the traditional financial sector.
IOTA Price Sees Correction Following Rapid Climb
Today’s cool off caused most altcoin prices to decline. The Ripple price fell 2.8% to $0.177, causing its market cap to dip below the $7 billion mark. Litecoin, which was the only top 15 coin to not rise at least 10% yesterday, saw its price fall 4.4% to $42. Ethereum Classic declined by 1.6%, reducing its market cap to $1.45 billion. The NEM price decreased by 4% to $0.129. Stratis, meanwhile, maintained its 10th-place ranking despite an 8.3% price reduction.
IOTA was the only top 10 cryptocurrency to experience a double-digit price decrease, as its MIOTA token fell 16% to $0.248 after peaking at $0.31 on Tuesday.
Only three of the 10 largest altcoins joined ethereum in its continued advance. The Dash price increased 3.2% to about $163. The Monero price saw a slight bump to $36, helping its market cap stay above the $500 million threshold. Twelfth-ranked EOS also made a slight gain; its price rose 3.5% to $1.66.
Flippening On the Horizon?
Ethereum has chipped away at bitcoin’s market cap dominance this week, increasing its market share to as much as 27.6% on Tuesday. At present, ethereum controls about one-quarter of the total market cap. Bitcoin, meanwhile, has seen its share decrease by more than 5% in the past week to 44.9%.
This week’s ethereum price surge has put the Flippening back on the horizon. Ethereum’s market cap is now about 54% as large as bitcoin’s. This remains an imposing gap to close, but it is an improvement over last week, when bitcoin was double the size of ethereum. Although the Flippening remains a long way off, it could begin to come into focus if ethereum continues to outpace bitcoin as it approaches its August 1 scaling deadline.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
