Cryptocurrencies Sell-Off Continues, Only A Handful In the Black

All major currencies continue their massive tumble, except for Siacoin.

Most major cryptocurrencies extended their massive tumble over the last 24 hours, further losing their value, data from CoinMarketCap showed.

Bitcoin continued its downward spiral and fell 11.64% on Wednesday and traded at $10,784. Bitcoin’s market capitalization fell by $51.26 billion to $181.26 billion from 232.52 billion the day before. But the market dominance actually increased, to more than 36%, signifying some of the altcoin funds moved into Bitcoin.

Ripple and Ethereum were also on the losing streak and are down -18.78% and -12.42% respectively.

During the market crash, Tether (USDT) trading volumes increased to above 10%, signifying also a move out of Bitcoin and into fiat-like positions.

Another altcoin that has shown some rebound is Siacoin, currently ranked number and has risen 2.51% over the past 24 hours. Siacoin traded at $0.043769 with a market cap of $1.37 billion, down by nearly $400 million from $1.77 billion the day before.

Crypto Crash, The Beginning of the End or a Test for Holders

Concerns about possible cryptocurrency trading ban in South Korea and China have triggered a massive sell-off in the digital currency space since Tuesday, pushing prices on a downward spiral.

As we reported yesterday, developments in South Korea and China have always had a huge impact on Bitcoin prices since these are two of the biggest cryptocurrency markets with Korean exchanges leading global trading volumes.

Bitcoin May Be Deciding Whether to Crash or Burn

Steven Englander, head of strategy at New York-based Rafiki Capital, stated that the market-wide downturn could be because “Bitcoin is deciding whether this is the moment to crash and burn.”

He went on to say, “My conjecture is that cryptocurrency holders are trying to decide whether to abandon Bitcoin because its limitations mean it will be superseded by better products or bet that it can thrive despite them.” 

Another analyst, Makoto Sakuma of Tokyo-based NLI Research Institute, has predicted that the strong rally by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the last few months of last year “is over.”