The cryptocurrency markets are treading water right now. Bitcoin has continued its downtrend, slipping even closer to the US$10,000 mark. And with a few exceptions, the other markets are following at its heels, as portfolios the world over are turning red.

Update: This article was drafted on 12/30/2017 in response to a dip in market trends.  On its date of publication (12/31/17), the market has experienced an uptrend.

On the Come-Down

Plenty of folks, especially here in the States, went to bed with the unpleasant knowledge that Bitcoin was struggling to retake US$14,000.  Well, king crypto has slouched even lower on his throne, sitting at US$12,766 at the time of writing. This price puts it about US$700 away from reaching the floor on which it bottomed out during last week’s flash crash, and from which it seemingly bounced to a recovery price of US$16,700 in the days following Christmas.

Due to this price dip, Bitcoin’s market dominance is now only 37.4% of crypto’s total capitalization. This is the second-lowest point it’s been in the market’s history, approaching its all-time low of 37.3% seen during the altcoin boom of this summer.

Perhaps Bitcoin’s loss of dominance is to thank for the industry’s overall market capitalization floating well above US$550 million. A few months ago, if Bitcoin’s price was hit hard, you could reliably expect the rest of the markets to get hit even harder. But at the time of writing, crypto’s total market cap is sitting at US$570 billion. This certainly isn’t the US$648 billion all-time high it saw during the December run-up, but it’s a lot healthier than the US$422 billion from the lowest point of the Christmas season correction.

Still, this is not to say that the current markets are giving a stellar performance. Barring a few outliers, cryptocurrencies across the board appear gassed going into the New Year.

Excluding Tether, 88 out of the top 100 by market cap are bleeding in price right now, and most top 10 coins are experiencing major cool-offs. Litecoin, much like Bitcoin, is steadily approaching its own Christmas correction low of US$187. It’s currently resting at US$217, a major dent from the US$375 high it reached at the peak of its holiday surge.

Speaking of the top 10, there are a few gainers amongst the losing throng. Ripple, for instance, continues to impress. Yesterday, its market cap overtook that of Ethereum, and XRP currently boasts a price of US$2.39, sitting in the #2 position on CoinMarketCap.com. Its US$92.5 billion capitalization is nearly half of Bitcoin’s total worth, and its 30.79% increase over the last 24 hours has it fairing much better than most of its top 10 peers.

Cardano is also looking optimistic going into 2018. Nested comfortably in the #5 spot, its 27.94% 24-hour increase accompanies a US$0.60 price. Our newest addition to the top 10 crew, Stellar Lumens nudged out Monero with its US$5.7 billion market cap. Valued at US$0.32 per XLM, the crypto’s 24-hour increase is a respectable 16.75%.