The cryptocurrency market has been on an upswing for the past couple of weeks – and we can all thank the price of Bitcoin (BTC) for (obviously) being the buoy for the rest of the crypto space. Since around February 6, the price of Bitcoin has managed to maintain an upward trajectory and nearly double its value. Just 14 days ago it was trading near the $6,100 mark. At the time of writing, it is nearing $12,000.
With government crackdowns and oversight of cryptocurrency trading slightly less of an anxiety inducer these days, the market looks like it has at least started a bit of a bounce-back. But there’s obviously no way of telling if this boost will be followed by another severe dip.
At least volumes are strong today – with Bitcoin, as per usual, also leading the charts when it comes to 24-hour trade volume.
BTC 24-hr Volume: $9.36 billion
24-hr Price Gain: 5.9%
Week Price Gain: 36.9%
Tether (USDT) is right behind Bitcoin (BTC) in 2nd Place
24-hr Volume: $2.88 billion
24-hr Price Gain: -0.16%
1-Wk Price Gain:-0.2%
Tether (USDT), the cryptocurrency that is pegged to the US dollar, has managed to become the coin with the 2nd highest trade volume in the past 24 hours. This coin trades pretty heavily and has garnered a lot of controversy in recent months. It was hit with a massive hack and has been accused of falsely propping up the crypto market by misleading us about how much fiat currency it actually has in its reserves (it claims to keep dollars on a 1-to-1 basis).
But, two days ago, Bitmex Research put out a report that (for the most part) put those rumors to rest. The report says that Tether probably has most of the fiat that they say they do – but that this currency is still at risk of being shut down by federal regulators.
Ethereum (ETH) Still Going At It
24-hr Volume: $2.4 billion
24-hr Price Gain: -1.9%
1-Wk Price Gain: 9.2%
Legendary dApp-supporting blockchain platform Ethereum (ETH) has seen its native currency, Ether, get the third-place spot today. Ironically, this cryptocurrency network’s founder just made pretty big waves when he warned buyers everywhere that crypto coins aren’t a good long-term investment.
That’s a pretty big claim – but he’s a smart guy, and his position makes sense. How many people do you know who have lost 40-60% in the past two months? There are a lot – and we have no idea if the whole market will even be worth this much a year from now. We just hope so.
Litecoin (LTC) Growing Stronger
24-hr Volume: $1.6 billion
24-hr Price Gain: 10.2%
1-Wk Price Gain: 52.4%
Litecoin (LTC) – the silver to Bitcoin’s gold – has also enjoyed some impressive growth recently. That may be due to the fact that in just six days, LitePay will launch.
It is the new payment system that will also feature a Visa card so LTC coins can be used in a ton of different retail locations. With this coin already on Coinbase and in the top 5, this gives Litecoin a huge chance of mass adoption in the coming months.
Ethereum Classic (ETC) taking 5th
24-hr Volume: $1.2 billion
24-hr Price Gain: 3.8%
1-Wk Price Gain: 20.9%
Ethereum Classic (ETC) was forked from Ethereum – actually the other way around. The original Ethereum blockchain is now what we know as ETC, and the current ETH network is a new system that was created after a big hack that developers disagreed on how to resolve.
This coin is only the 14th most valuable on the market, so it’s pretty impressive that it gets the 5th-place spot for volume today. Over the past month, Ethereum Classic has more than doubled its price.
https://www.theusacommerce.com/crypto-check-in-tether-usdt-and-bitcoin-btc-leading-on-volume/