Bitcoin
A few hours ago Ana Alexandre published an article analysis bitcoin’s price movements as well as some other main coins today on CoinDesk. As as her article went to press, bitcoin (BTC) was up 4 percent on the day and was trading at $8,135. Earlier it had been above $8,200. Earlier still it had dropped under $8,000 and was as low as $7,807.
On a weekly basis BTC hit a low point at $5,942 on May 8. Its highest price was $8,265 on May 14. Eric Voorhees who is CEO of the exchange platform ShapeShift claims the volatility seen in bitcoin and altcoin markets is a necessary part of an asset just being born. Bubbles he thinks are a necessary part of cryptocurrency growth. However, such volatility makes it difficult for cryptocurrencies to serve as a store of value or a replacement for fiat currency.
Etherium or Ether (ETH)
Etherium is the second largest cryptocoin by market cap and the largest altcoin. In the last 24 hours it has increased its value nearly 15 percent. At press time it was trading around $237. ETH has been gaining price all week. It is currently up 39 percent over it price at the beginning of the week.
Ripple (XRP)
Ripple the third largest cryptocoin by market value is also well up over today gaining 9.59 percent. It was trading at $0.432 when Alexandre’s article went to press. It had started the day at $0.399. On a weekly basis XRP’s lowest price was on May 10 at $0.294 and it highest price was earlier today at $0.438
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Even bitcoin cash (BCH) which went through a planned hard fork update early today, was up 4.94 percent at press time and was trading at $393.76. BitMEX reported the bitcoin cash network had difficulty processing transactions after the fork.
The total market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies was about $250.5 billion at press time up from the start of the day when it was at $231 billion
Present situation
Bitcoin opened 24 hours ago trading at $7,989. Its high since then has been $8,272 almost reaching $8,300. The low has been $7,844 according to CoinDesk data. At 19:00 Central Daylight Time, BTC was trading at $8,202 up $213 from its open or over 2.5 percent.
Bitcoin Cash is still up but just a little over two percent at $413.93 at press time. However ether (ETH) is doing well up over 14 percent at $249.87. Ripple too is advancing in the double digits also over 14 percent at $0.4739 according to CoinDesk data. The present price of bitcoin and the top twenty altcoins can be found here.
