We are only four days into 2018, but the cryptocurrency market
has already achieved another major milestone as the total
value of digital assets surged past $700 billion for the first time.
Crypto Market Cap: Onward and Upward
The total value of all cryptocurrencies in circulation came within a
hair of $750 billion on Thursday, according to data provider CoinMarketCap.
At press time, the total market size was $749.9 billion,
which represents a daily increase of nearly 11%.
Just 24 hours ago, the market was capitalized at $678 billion,
a record high at the time.
vOver the last 12 months, cryptos have gone from an obscure
and esoteric concept to a mainstream investment attracting
institutional capital from around the world.
Over that period, the market cap has risen by an astounding 3,800%.
Altcoins Take a Bigger Share of the Pie
One of the most resounding features of the latest rally is the fact that
bitcoin played only a minor role.
Though still the largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin’s influence on the market
has quickly faded, with the likes of Ripple (XRP), Ethereum (ETH) and even Cardano (ADA)
controlling a bigger share of the overall pie.
At the time of writing, there were 35 cryptocurrencies with a market value
of $1 billion or more.
Three additional assets were valued at more than $900 million and 19
more had a cap of half at least half a billion.
For bitcoin, prices climbed back above $15,000 on Wednesday,
and were last seen hovering around $15,330.
The real story continues to be Ripple XRP, which briefly traded above $3 a token
Wednesday as traders rushed to capitalize on the best-performing currency of 2018.
(Interestingly, bitcoin held that titled in six of seven years through 2016.)
Recent gains in the market have also been driven by lesser known coins that analysts
say offer huge potential for the digital economy.
We’ve already mentioned Cardano – now the world’s no. 5 crypto by market cap –
but there’s also NEM (XEM), Stellar (XLM), IOTA (MIOTA) and Tron (TRX).
These altcoins are part of the top-11 cryptocurrencies by market cap.
As these tokens surge, bitcoin’s share of the total market has fallen to an
all-time low of 34.6%.
Ripple controls 16.6% of the market and Ethereum 12.7%.
Put differently, altcoins now represent two-thirds of the crypto universe.
The recent price rally suggests cryptos are picking up where they left off in 2017.
However, some analysts are concerned that evolving regulations could rain
on bull market’s parade.
Last week, South Korea became the latest country to issue stern warnings
about cryptocurrency speculation, with a government official warning that
major exchanges could get shut down if newly implemented
rules fail to cool the market.
The South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) has issued swift bans
on new trading accounts on domestic exchanges, and has barred anyone
from opening anonymous trading accounts.
The new rules come into effect this month, and follow earlier efforts to
restricted minors and non-residents from trading on
domestic cryptocurrency exchanges.
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