Ethereum and bitcoin prices led a comprehensive market retreat on Tuesday after Korean traders initiated a sell-off. The two crypto-giants stabilized on Wednesday, with neither one seeing a sustained price movement.
The total cryptocurrency market cap actually experienced a bit of a recovery. After dipping below $130 billion on August 15, it has climbed back to a present value of $136.6 billion. This is a 24-hour gain of about $400 million.
Bitcoin Price Maintains $4,000 Level
On Tuesday, the bitcoin price dropped below $4,000 after breaking through that threshold over the weekend. It reached as low as $3,906 before rallying back across the $4,200 mark. It has receded a bit in the past few hours, bringing the current value of bitcoin to $4,148. Bitcoin now has a market cap of $68.5 billion.
There are various theories about where the bitcoin price will go from here. RT host Max Keiser and BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes believe it will strike $5,000 next, while stock trader Ronnie Moas anticipates $7,500 by the end of the year. Sheba Jafari, a chief technical analyst at Goldman Sachs, forecasts that the bitcoin price will near $5,000 but eventually crash as low as $2,221. Her analysis is based on Elliot Wave Theory .
Short-term prospects aside, it is undeniable that bitcoin is gaining momentum. Goldman Sachs recently said it is “getting harder [for institutional investors] to ignore cryptocurrency.” Money management firm VanEck–which previously derided bitcoin as a “fad”–has now applied for a Bitcoin ETF. One Harvard academic recently predicted the bitcoin price will hit $100,000 in 2021.
Ethereum Price Struggles to Crack $300
Like bitcoin, the ethereum price was mostly stable on Wednesday following a day of negative movement on August 15. After fighting its way back to $300 following the July market correction, ethereum has struggled to hold above that mark. At present, the ethereum price is $292, resulting in a $27.5 billion market cap.
Nevertheless, community members continue to build infrastructure to promote ethereum adoption. Monday, the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance announced the creation of a legal working group to educate the legal industry about blockchain technology and develop Ethereum-based applications for that space.
Altcoin Markets Mixed
The altcoin markets were a mixed bag for investors. The Ripple price experienced another 6% decline to $0.156, reducing its market cap below $6 billion. Neither bitcoin cash nor IOTA saw much movement.
The NEM price posted a 13% gain to $0.269, bringing investors relief after a multi-day decline. the NEO price increased about 9%, pushing litecoin to 8th in the market cap rankings. Dash was another standout; its price spiked 10% to $216, raising its market cap to $1.6 billion.
Ethereum classic rounds out the top 10 with a 1% decline to $13.61.
Bitcoin Dominance Holds Above 50%
Despite Tuesday’s decline, bitcoin retains a dominant market share of slightly more than 50%. Ethereum accounts for another 20% of the market, while the 800+ altcoins share the remaining 30%.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
