The crypto markets are getting off to a slow start this morning.  Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) (BTC) has dropped below the $8,000 mark, and NEO, Stellar (XLM), and Ethereum (available on Coinbase) (ETH) are all in red territory as well. 

So what’s going on? Is it a case of the Monday Blues? Or, is it an indication that somETHing serious is on the horizon for the cryptocurrency markets? Let’s see what we can find out.

NEO 

NEO is currently selling for $65.64, which puts the coin down 4.77% in the past twenty-four hours. Last week, on Friday, April 13, the coin was up, selling for $66.46 at one point during the trading day. 

Source: CoinMarketCap

Interestingly, NEO’s price drop comes a few days after NEO unveiled the Victor project in Amsterdam. On April 14, NEO hosted the first conference of its European tour, and it was here NEO decided to reveal the contents of its latest project with Victor, a decentralized shopping platform. 

Rodger Buyvoets, CEO of Victor, unveiled the project at the NEO Amsterdam event. Here’s how the NEO x Victor project works: Victor is a platform that allows consumers manage, secure, and monetize their data while having the option of sharing their data with various online brands. Victor hopes this interaction between the consumer and online brands will improve user experience significantly. NEO comes into the picture because Victor has been built on the NEO blockchain. 

As NEO moves forward with its European tour, it will be interesting to see if it reveals more projects. It will also be interesting to see how the crypto markets react to such projects if announced. NEO is moving onto Lisbon tomorrow, April 17, before heading to Madrid on April 20. 

Stellar (XLM)

Here we have another coin seeing red. Stellar (XLM) is currently trading for $0.275888, which puts the coin down 4.09% in the past twenty-four hours. On Friday, April 13, Stellar (XLM) was trading up, selling for $0.263358 at one point during the session. 

Source: CoinMarketCap

Stellar (XLM) has had its share of troubles in the cryptocurrency space, but that hasn’t stopped the digital asset from looking towards innovation or updating its platform. Recently, we have seen Stellar participate in an AMA session on a Subreddit chain. It was here various questions were answered regarding the future of the Stellar platform. Based on what was discussed, it appears Stellar is considering the integration of atomic swap into the platform in the near-future. 

As for what the market thinks of the future of Stellar, a recent survey concluded that 62% of Stellar respondents hold the opinion that the Stellar (XLM) coin has shown great potential in the past, but it has died out as of late. With that being said, these same respondents all stated that they will wait for an uptrend to commence. Meanwhile, 38% of Stellar (XLM) respondents stated that they feel the XLM coin will continue to drop moving forward. 

Ethereum (available on Coinbase) (ETH)

Ethereum (available on Coinbase) might be seeing red today, but the coin is still lingering above the $500 mark, which is a positive. After all, Ethereum (available on Coinbase) only moved past $500 on Friday, April 13, marking the first time the coin moved past that price level since the end of March. 

Currently, Ethereum (available on Coinbase) (ETH) is selling for $505.38, which puts the coin down 3.54% in the past twenty-four hours. 

Source: CoinMarketCap

Perhaps Monday’s price drop has been caused by the controversial comments made by Ethereum (available on Coinbase) founder Vitalik Buterin. Back at the start of the month, Buterin suggested that the economics that lay the groundwork for the second-largest digital currency in the world should be changed. At first, many thought Buterin was joking. Turns out, he wasn’t. 

Last week, the Ethereum (available on Coinbase) founder reiterated this rationale. This could be a reason for Monday’s decline. If it is, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the week pans out.

The NEO, Stellar (XLM), and Ethereum (available on Coinbase) (ETH) Takeaway

What coin are you most surprised about today? Personally, I was surprised to see NEO trading down. Considering NEO is on tour, and the platform recently announced somETHing intended to benefit the market, I would have thought NEO would be moving into green territory today. 

Featured Image: Depositphotos/© kongvector

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