Crypto Market Struggling, Retains $500-$600B Capitalization

The overall cryptocurrency market seems to have stabilized after a correction that lowered its total capitalization to below US$450 billion last week. That said, the market has yet to convincingly bounce back to pre-correction levels, as its market cap continues to drift between US$500 billion and US$600 billion.

The Bears are Back

November and December saw record highs across most cryptocurrency markets. The total market cap increased a staggering US$350 billion from the beginning of November to its December peak, and top 10 coins repeatedly hit new all-time highs over the course of this latest market run-up.  

Nothing lasts forever, however, and these fortunes faded almost as quickly as they had arisen. Last week, the market went into a nosedive, leaving assets across the board bleeding as crypto’s market cap bottomed out at US$422 billion. Bitcoin dove to lows below US$12,000, Ethereum’s price touched just under US$500, and Litecoin fell to US$196.  

The days following this correction saw a swift recovery. Bitcoin found support around US$15,000 as the overall market capitalization rose back to US$600 billion. But the market has had trouble maintaining this recovery, dipping back below US$500 billion over the course of the Christmas holiday.

Since this Christmas dip, the market has made slow but steady strides back to US$600 billion. It’s since retreated to the US$500 billion range, losing around US$50 billion over the last 24 hours. At the time of writing, crypto’s total market capitalization is US$554 billion.

News that the South Korean government plans to ban anonymous trading accounts and enforce stricter regulations on Korean exchanges may be partly to blame for the recent price trend. Rumors circulating that Korean officials were instituting an all-out ban on cryptocurrency may have also adversely affected market-wide prices.

Diamonds in the Rough

Even in a current of selling that has dragged prices downward, a few crypto assets are treading well in these unfavorable waters.  

Ripple, for instance, has continued its healthy rise. Currently, it’s up 11.49% over 24 hours and sitting at a comfortable US$1.47, evading the downtrend that has affected most of the market, the top 10 included.

A bit lower in the rankings, RaiBlocks continues to impress, up 17.63% in 24 hours at US$11.10. At the beginning of this month, RaiBlocks was trading at just US$0.20.

There are a few other notable 24-hour gainers in the top 100, including KuCoin Shares (+41.86%), Byteball Bytes (+19.86%), and SALT (+9.24%).