The bitcoin price pulled back on Tuesday, dipping nearly $200 to put a pause on its week-long rally. The ethereum price retreated by a similar degree, causing the wider markets to contract by more than $6 billion.
On Monday, the combined value of all cryptocurrency market caps surpassed $150 billion for the first time in nearly three weeks. This achievement punctuated the $50 billion recovery the markets had achieved since dipping below $100 billion in the days following China’s ban on initial coin offerings and bitcoin exchanges.
The total crypto market cap declined a bit throughout the day, so it entered Tuesday morning at $148.5 billion. However, the crypto market cap fell off a precipice at about 5:00 UTC and currently sits at $143.8 billion.
Bitcoin Price Dips Under $4,300
Yesterday, the bitcoin price rose as high as $4,470, but it was unable to punch its way through the $4,500 barrier. Bitcoin continued to hold above $4,400 leading into Tuesday morning, but it could not resist the pull of the wider markets. The bitcoin price quickly dropped below $4,400, and it has continued to decline from there. At present, the bitcoin price is trading at a global average of $4,282, which represents a 24-hour decline of 4% and translates into a $71.1 billion market cap.
Despite the day’s downturn, Monday brought its share of bullish news. Investment banking giant Goldman Sachs is reportedly considering establishing a dedicated cryptocurrency trading operation. Even if Goldman does not follow through with the plan, that they are even considering engaging with bitcoin directly indicates the degree to which Wall Street has begun to recognize that cryptocurrencies are “more than a fad”.
Ethereum Price Declines 4%
The ethereum price joined bitcoin in its retreat, declining 4% for the day. This dropped the ethereum price from $301 to a present value of $288 and caused ethereum’s market cap to pull back to $27.4 billion.
Altcoin Markets Turn Red
The altcoin markets fared even worse than bitcoin and ethereum. Excluding Tether, only six of the top 100 cryptocurrencies managed to make positive movement, and only one — Cardano — is located within the top 20 largest market caps.
The Ripple price dipped about 2% but continued to place distance between itself and bitcoin cash, which declined 4% to $401. Ripple now boasts a nearly $1 billion market cap edge on bitcoin cash. Litecoin, Dash, and Monero all fell around 6%, pushing Dash below $300 and Monero below $90. NEM dropped 7% but maintained its $2 billion market cap, and NEO fell just under 10% to reduce its price to about $34. The top 10’s worst performer was ninth-ranked IOTA, which declined 12% to $0.532, forcing its market cap below $1.5 billion.
As a result of this contract, bitcoin’s market cap dominance rose to 49.6%, which appears to be its highest mark since mid-August.