The cryptocurrency markets have begun the week on a positive note, with the total market capitalization of all currencies consolidating above the $400 billion mark.
Sellers reigned supreme a week ago, before better-than-expected Senate hearings calmed market nerves and once more boosted demand for cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, jumped to $9,070.64 over the weekend and was last seen trading at around $8,800.
Other crypto leaders followed suit and, as a result, the total value of the market – which had hit a 10-week low of $276 billion on Feb. 6 – steadily recovered in the subsequent days.
The market cap rose to $458 billion on Saturday – the highest since Feb. 2 – according to data source CoinMarketCap. After a dip yesterday below $400 billion, the figure is back around $430 billion at press time – down 6 percent from the weekend high.
However, despite having recovered 55 percent from the February low, the market cap is still down $400 billion from the record high of $830 billion set in January.
Looking at the individual markets, IOTA is the top gainer on a 24-hour basis (up 12.59 percent) among the top 10 currencies, but ranks second (-46.48 percent) on the list of top losers on a year-to-date (YTD) basis.
Despite having rallied 86 percent from its Feb. 6 low of $0.58836, Ripple’s XRP token is still the worst performing top-10 currency on a year-to-date basis (YTD) – down 52.17 percent.
Meanwhile, ethereum’s native currency, ether (ETH), is up 15.29 percent on a YTD basis. Though impressive, the ether bulls still have a plenty work to do, given the cryptocurrency is still down 39 percent from the record high of $1,432.88 hit on Jan. 13.
Also notable, Stellar’s XLM token is up 8.71 percent in the last 24 hours, and reporting 11 percent gains on YTD terms.
Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in Ripple.
Prices correct at time of writing, and sourced from CoinMarketCap.com.
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