The bitcoin price fell into decline on Monday after achieving an all-time high above $7,600 the previous day. Many altcoins experienced price increases, but their combined progress was not enough to prevent the total cryptocurrency market cap from dipping below the $200 billion mark.
The crypto market cap began the day just north of $200 billion and continued to climb, reaching $202 billion on Sunday afternoon before reversing course and dropping as low as $195 billion at approximately 5:00 UTC on Monday morning. From there, the crypto market cap achieved a moderate recovery, bringing it to a present value of $199 billion.
Bitcoin Price Recedes Following Race to ATH
The global average bitcoin price surged to a new all-time high of $7,617 on Sunday as the market continued to benefit from the bullish tone initiated by the announcement that a major U.S. derivatives exchange intends to launch bitcoin futures contracts. However, the bitcoin price plunged more than $400 upon achieving this milestone, reducing it to a global average of $7,175. On Bitfinex, the drop was even more precipitous and threatened to force the bitcoin price below the $7,000 mark.
Fortunately, the downturn proved to be a blip on the radar, and the bitcoin price stabilized above $7,300 and is currently trading at $7,359. This gives bitcoin a market cap of $122.7 billion, which translates into a daily decline of approximately 1%.
Ethereum Price Holds Below $300
The ethereum price has spent the better part of the last month hovering near $300, and that trend continued on Monday. After beginning the day just below the $300 mark, ethereum declined about six-tenths of one percent, reducing it to a present value of $297. Ethereum maintains a market cap of about $28.4 billion.
Ethereum Classic Leaps Into Top 10
Altcoins posted a combined net gain of $500 million on Monday, reducing the bitcoin dominance index by about 1%. Nevertheless, bitcoin still controls an overwhelming 61.7% of the total cryptocurrency market cap.
Bitcoin cash led the altcoin rally, raising its price 3% to $626. Ripple, litecoin, and dash all fell into decline, but none of these declines exceeded eight-tenths of one percent. The NEO price rose by a bit more than 1%, while the NEM price climbed by 8%.
Ethereum classic posted the most impressive gain of the day, surging nearly 26% to $15. Ethereum classic had long languished on the outskirts of the crypto market cap top 10, and today’s impressive performance enabled it to reclaim a spot in the market’s top tier. The primary theory for the rally is that cryptocurrency exchange OKEx added support for ethereum classic futures. Ethereum classic is now ranked ninth with a market cap of near $1.5 billion, and monero rounds out the top ten with a minor increase to $82.
Many CoinMarketCap users have noted that bitconnect’s market cap recently plunged by 75%, forcing it out of the top 10. The bitconnect price remained stable, but the index operator adjusted how the cryptocurrency’s market cap was calculated, apparently to exclude the value of coins that are locked up in lending contracts. Bitconnect’s circulating supply currently has a market cap of $591 million, placing it 14th in the rankings.