Cryptocurrency markets appear to have run out of steam after a solid charge higher over the last few days. At the time of writing almost all of the leading cryptos are trending lower.
Here is the state of play on Wednesday morning:
The bitcoin (BTC) price has fallen 1.5% since this time yesterday to US$8,655 per token according to Coin Market Cap. This decline means that the crypto giant has seen its market capitalisation reduce to just under US$146 billion, equating to a market share of approximately 35%.
Ethereum (ETH) has dropped almost 2.5% over the last 24 hours to US$846.57. The world's second-largest cryptocurrency now has a market capitalisation of US$82.6 billion.
The Ripple (XRP) price has been the worst performer amongst the major cryptocurrencies with a 4% decline over the last 24 hours to US$1.03. This decline means that the altcoin's market capitalisation has now been reduced to approximately US$41.1 billion.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has lost 2.5% of its value during the last 24 hours with a fall to US$1,242 per token. The bitcoin spin-off now has a market capitalisation of US$21.1 billion.
The Cardano (ADA) price has fallen just over 0.5% since this time yesterday with a move down to 37.6 U.S. cents. The fledgling altcoin has been left with a market capitalisation of just under US$9.8 billion.
It has been a similar story for other altcoins as well during the period. Both Litecoin (LTC) and NEO (NEO) have lost around 1% of their value.
The Stellar Lumens (XLM) price has, however, been an outlier and pushed notably higher. The XLM price has climbed 8% higher during the last 24 hours to 42.6 U.S. cents, giving it a market capitalisation of US$7.9 billion.
What happened?
Crypto market sentiment appears to have been dealt a blow when Bloomberg Intelligence commodity strategist Mike McGlone suggested that the bitcoin price could be heading to US$900.
According to Bloomberg, McGlone believes that the cryptocurrency could plunge a further 90% in an environment of unsustainably growing supply, warning that there are similarities between bitcoin and the dot-com bubble of the 1990s.
On top of this, the Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort, warned that cryptocurrencies are pump-and-dump schemes being promoted by scam artists in an interview with The Street. I think it is worth heeding Belfort's warning.
