Bitcoin’s record-setting streak ended on Wednesday, as the bitcoin price dipped 3% to $3,305 following the official lock-in of Segregated Witness (SegWit). Ethereum capitalized on the situation, advancing toward $300 to bring its market cap close to $28 billion. Nevertheless, bitcoin managed to drag the total crypto market cap down with it.
Chart from CoinMarketCap
On Tuesday, the total value of all cryptocurrencies topped $120 billion for the first time and continued to climb until it reached a peak at $125 billion. Bitcoin’s decline caused an overall market contraction, reducing the total market cap to $120.6 billion.
Chart from CoinMarketCap
Bitcoin Price Dips Following SegWit Lock-In
SegWit officially locked in at block 479,707, and a general excitement reverberated throughout the bitcoin community as they await the next phase of bitcoin’s existence that this scaling upgrade will initiate.
Many investors anticipate the bitcoin price will rise significantly over the coming months – with one Harvard academic forecasting that the bitcoin price could reach $100,000 by 2021 – although some remain wary of an impending dispute over SegWit2x. For its part, the bitcoin price declined following the SegWit lock-in, falling to $3,305 after peaking at $3,485 on Tuesday morning. This 3% dip reduced the bitcoin’s market cap to $54.5 billion.
Bitcoin Price Chart from CoinMarketCap
Ethereum Price Tests $300
The ethereum price has been on a tear since the beginning of August, rising $100 in its first nine days. It climbed as high as $317 on Wednesday, although it could not sustain the $300 mark and has dipped back to $295 at present. This still represents a 24-hour gain of 4%, and – coupled with bitcoin’s stumble – it enabled ethereum to regain a bit of ground on bitcoin. Ethereum now has a market cap of $27.8 billion.
Ethereum Price Chart from CoinMarketCap
Bitcoin Cash Price Rally Stalls
The bitcoin cash recovery stalled on Wednesday, with BCH returning a single-day decline of 11%. The current bitcoin cash price is $328, a reduction of nearly $60 from its Tuesday high of $386. Bitcoin cash now has a market cap of $5.4 billion, placing it about $1.6 billion behind 3rd-place Ripple.
Bitcoin Cash Price Chart from CoinMarketCap
Litecoin Price Eyes $50 Amid Mixed Market
Altcoin communities received a welcome surprise on Tuesday, as online mega-retailer Overstock announced it will now accept cryptocurrency payments in ether and more than 40 altcoins through the ShapeShift API. The markets were mixed the following day, but bitcoin cash was the only major coin to decline more than 10%. Ripple, NEM, Dash, and ethereum classic all held steady, while litecoin, IOTA, and NEO managed positive returns.
Altcoin Price Chart from CoinMarketCap
The litecoin price rose a respectable 5%, briefly crossing the $50 mark before settling down to $48.52. This raised litecoin’s market cap to $2.54 billion, enabling it to reclaim the 5th-place market cap ranking from NEM, whose valuation is currently $2.47 billion.
Litecoin Price Chart from CoinMarketCap
The IOTA price rose 14%, increasing its market cap to $1.5 billion. In the past week, IOTA has risen more than 85%. The NEO price also had an impressive day, climbing 16% to $19. NEO now boasts a $952 billion market cap; if it can increase this by another $48 million, then the top 10 cryptocurrencies will have market caps higher than $1 billion for the first time in history.
Ethereum Market Share Reaches 3-Week High
Chart from CoinMarketCap
Bitcoin dominance dropped to 45.3% on Wednesday, its lowest mark since the introduction of bitcoin cash to the market cap charts. This is a significant decrease from the beginning of August, when bitcoin controlled more than half of the total cryptocurrency market cap. Ethereum, meanwhile, leveraged its price rally to increase its share to 23% – a three-week high.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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