The new year has brought mixed tidings for investors in bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets.
Since the start of 2018, the price of a single bitcoin has risen by approximately 12%. At 13:57 UTC, bitcoin’s price was $15,060.57, up 2.17% from 24 hours ago. The increase arrests a slide in the cryptocurrency’s price during the end of 2017. Even as it has made gains, however, its overall market share has declined to 36 percent from 56 percent last month. Its futures contracts, which debuted above $20,000, have since crashed by almost $5,000 in price.
But bitcoin’s poor performance has not affected the overall market capitalization for cryptocurrencies. They passed the $700 billion mark at 02:00 UTC and were valued at $711.6 billion at 14:20 UTC. (See also: Bitcoin Price Steadies As Crypto Markets Hit All-Time Highs.)
Altcoins have usurped most of the gains in cryptocurrency markets. For example, bitcoin’s price increase paled in comparison to that of Stellar, a cryptocurrency for banking transfers that announced partnerships with IBM Corp. (IBM) and Deloitte, whose price skyrocketed by 55% in a single day. At 14:11 UTC, Stellar was trading for a price of $0.88 per coin. In the last two days, its price has popped by 166.6%.
Cardano, a four-month-old cryptocurrency, was the other big winner, rising by 36.31%. According to reports, Cardano's blockchain will be used to verify diplomas handed out by a Greek University.
Litecoin, which is aimed at daily transaction markets, and IOTA, a cryptocurrency for the so-called Internet of Things economy, were the only losers, declining by 3.4% and 3.2% respectively. (See also: A Closer Look At IOTA.)