The cryptocurrency market, led by the leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has massively declined over the past 24 hours, losing more than $20 billion in total crypto market cap in the process. $23 billion in cryptocurrencies has vanished from the cryptocurrency market following the massive retracement that digital assets are undergoing.
The world’s leading crypto asset by market capitalization, Bitcoin lost about $700 after a rejection at $12,000. On the other hand, Ethereum plunged by a massive 15 percent, and has already plummeted another 8 percent as at press time. Moreover, Polkadot surpassed Chainlink to become the top 5 largest cryptocurrency by market cap following a 10 percent drop in the value of LINK.
Bitcoin price sinks by 5%
The BTC/USD pair attempted to break past the coveted $12,000 price level about 36 hours ago. Nevertheless, Bitcoin bulls were overpowered by the resilient bears who opposed the move, resulting in a rejection for the top cryptocurrency. Initially, the pair sunk to the $11,800 price level before conditions intensified, sending the BTC/USD pair to a daily low of $11,160.
Normally after a massive price decline, the cryptocurrency industry speculates on the likely cause for the decline. In this instance the cryptocurrency community linked this particular drop to the reports that South Korean police have invaded the offices of major cryptocurrency exchange platform, Bithumb.
The altcoins bloodbath as crypto market cap loses $23 billion
The altcoin market is currently dominated by the color of blood. The second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum which had enjoyed a massive rally hitting a 2-year high of $490, plummeted by almost 9 percent to reach $435. Investors hoped for the price of Ethereum to hit $500 soon.
Moreover, Ripple’s XRP also declined by an identical percentage to Ethereum, and Tether (USDT) has taken full advantage of the situation to usurp XRP as the third largest crypto asset by crypto market cap. Polkadot on the other hand surpassed LINK as the fifth largest cryptocurrency despite losing 4 percent of its value. Chainlink lost about 10 percent on value.
Furthermore, several altcoins have registered losses in double figures as well. For instance Ampleforth (-30%), Aragon (-20%), OMG Network (-16.5%), Swipe (-16%), Algorand (-16%), Cosmos (-14%), DFI.Money (-14%), and Reserve Rights (-14%) amongst several others.
