The bitcoin price stampede reached another milestone on Thursday, leaping above $7,000 with ease to set a new all-time high above $7,350. This record rally has launched the total cryptocurrency market cap to a new all-time high of its own, placing it in position to crack the $200 billion barrier within the near future.
On Wednesday, bitcoin carried the crypto market cap across the $185 billion threshold, enabling it to finally surpass the all-time high it set at the beginning of September before hostile Chinese regulators initiated a market downturn. The advance continued on Thursday, and the crypto market cap spiked as high as $194.4 billion before settling down to a present value of $190.7 billion.
Bitcoin Price Goes Berserk
It is not an exaggeration to say that bitcoin has single-handedly lifted the crypto market cap to its present height. Bitcoin’s market cap has swelled by approximately $40 billion over the past month, while the combined market caps of all other cryptocurrencies have actually posted a net decline. Bitcoin’s bull run has at times appeared unstoppable, as evidenced by its Thursday morning surge. Still riding investor optimism over CME Group’s announcement that it will list bitcoin futures contracts on its derivatives exchange, the bitcoin price leaped past $7,000 to set a new all-time high of $7,367. Despite experiencing a $500 flash crash immediately after reaching this peak, the bitcoin price quickly recovered to $7,000 and is currently trading at a global average of $7,061. Bitcoin now has a market $117.6 billion market cap.
Ethereum Price Erodes
The bitcoin price rally has left ethereum struggling to tread water, and on Thursday the ethereum price experienced a 4% dip to $288. Over the course of the past week, ethereum’s value against bitcoin has declined by 20%, reducing ETH/BTC to a seven-month low. Nevertheless, ethereum retains a market cap of $27.5 billion, securing its status as the second-largest cryptocurrency by a considerable margin.
Bitcoin Cash Price Leads the Altcoin Pack
The vast majority of top-tier altcoins experienced moderate price declines on Thursday, although both bitcoin cash and bitconnect managed to swim against the current.
The bitcoin cash price continued its rapid advance, rising 14% to $563 in a bid to cement its status as the third-largest cryptocurrency. At present, bitcoin cash has a $9.4 billion market cap, placing it within striking distance of the $10 billion mark — a mark it may achieve if the rally continues leading up to its much-anticipated hard fork on November 13.
Ripple and dash each posted declines of 3%, reducing their prices to $0.192 and $266, respectively. The litecoin price dropped 4%, placing it at risk of falling below $50. Bitconnect, now ranked seventh, rose 8%, placing it just a few dollars away from reaching price parity with dash. NEO, on the other hand, plunged 9% to $25, and NEM followed closely behind with an 8% decline of its own. Monero rounded out the top 10 with a 4% dip to $83.