Following a sharp rally in the beginning of the year, cryptocurrencies have experienced massive swings in the last five trading sessions, driven by several negative reports and the bearish outlook from major analysts, including the legendary Warren Buffett.
Therefore, bearish sentiments held the overall market in the red, resulting in a major loss in the total market capitalization for cryptocurrencies, tumbling from above $750 billion in the beginning of the week to $718 billion at present. Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) and Ripple (available on Binance) are among the major losers after shocking reports from South Korea.
The potential ban from South Korea on cryptocurrencies has substantially impacted their prices and market capitalization in the last few trading sessions. Korean authorities have raided several domestic exchanges and they are planning to take strict measures to reduce the cryptocurrency trading.
Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) has ended the latest session just above $13,000. Its price pared some losses in early Friday’s trade and hit the level of $14,000. The price of Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) is still down more than $2,000 from the point it started at this week. From a high of $18,000 on January 6, it plunged to $13,400 on Thursday in a span of less than a week.
After the massive selloff in the past six days, Bitcoin (available on Coinbase)’s market capitalization declined to $233 billion, compared to $292 billion on Jan 6.
On the other hand, Ripple (available on Binance) suffered the biggest loss, as its price lost almost 38% of the value this week. It is trading more than 4% lower in Friday’s trade. Ripple (available on Binance) has lost a major portion of its market capitalization, dipping to $79 billion from $124 billion in the beginning of the week.
There were several factors that contributed to the drop in Ripple (available on Binance)’s value, particularly the raids on South Korean exchanges. The digital currency gained some momentum in Thursday’s trade after it announced the partnership with Moneygram.
On the positive side, Ethereum (available on Coinbase) continues impressing investors this week, surging more than 19% over the past week. Ethereum (available on Coinbase) is only among those cryptocurrencies that are looking to end the week in the green.
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