Many investors of major cryptocurrencies who felt very jittery as prices of the digital currencies went on free fall can heave a sign of relief as the coins recovered over 5 percent in the past two days.
According to data from Coindesk, the total value of all publicly traded cryptocurrencies declined more than USD10 billion at the weekend as investors trust continue to diminish on the future of the coins. The data revealed that the crypto market has shaded 46.9 percent in the last thirty days dropping to a low of USD61 billion from USD115 billion.
The most affected currencies include those that have seen remarkable gains in recent months.
On Sunday, 16 July, the price of bitcoin, the world’s number one cryptocurrency in value tumbled below USD2, 000 to USD1, 866 representing about 38 percent drop from its record peak of USD3,018 in mid-June.
The decline saw its market capitalization fall to USD36.7 billion.
The price of bitcoin however hovered slightly above the USD2,000 mark on Monday as speculations of an imminent split of bitcoin into two digital currencies loomed. The digital currency was trading at USD2,083 representing a 7.47 rise from the previous drop. On Tuesday the digital currency rose to 0.91 percent reaching USD2,264.73 .
Its closest rival, ether, the currency used on the ethereum platform dropped 28 percent on Sunday morning. The digital currency went down USD130.26 shedding 22 percent off its record high of USD420 on June 12.
But the price held at USD166.46 rising 5.89 percent on Monday evening. It appreciated further by 4.77 percent at USD190.02.
In an effort to explain why the price of bitcoin dropped, Jon Matonis, Vice President of Corporate Strategy at nChain to the UK Express that the cryptocurrency has held up relatively well.
“Bitcoin prices are down approximately one-third from the most recent high of USD2980 per bitcoin. This is less of a retracement than Ethereum which is down approximately 70 percent from recent high of USD407 per ETH.
“This is normal for bitcoin to retrace somewhat considering the quick run-up from April 2017 price levels,” Matonis said.
Also reacting to the development, Spencer Bogart, head of research at Blockchain Capital, in a tweet on Sunday, stated that price of bitcoin could go lower before it heads higher.
Meanwhile, some experts in the bitcoin community are throwing their support for the SegWit2x proposal.
“I am for the SegWit2x proposal and hope that we see it broadly adopted later this month,” said Fred Wilson, managing partner at Union Square in a blog post on Tuesday morning. “There is a chance that does not happen, and a user activated soft fork (USAF) could be used to force SegWit into the market. I personally hope that a user activated soft fork does not happen as it would create a lot of turbulence.”
Source: https://www.businessdayonline.com/cryptocurrencies-record-slight-two-days-gains-free-fall/
