The cryptocurrency market has continued its strong run and climbed notably higher over the last 24 hours.
With gains being seen across the board, the entire value of the crypto market has climbed US$12 billion or 3.5% over the last 24 hours to US$354.2 billion according to Coin Market Cap.
Here is the state of play on Friday morning:
The bitcoin (BTC) price is up 1.1% during the last 24 hours to US$8,234.40 per coin, lifting its market capitalisation to US$139.9 billion. Bitcoin miners will be hoping this strong run continues over the next few days. A note out of Morgan Stanley estimates that miners are losing money when the bitcoin price is below US$8,600.
The Ethereum (ETH) price has surged 7% higher over the last 24 hours to US$554.83 per token. This gives the world's second largest cryptocurrency a market capitalisation of US$54.9 billion.
The Ripple (XRP) price has pushed almost 6% higher since this time yesterday to 74.24 U.S. cents, increasing the popular altcoin's market capitalisation to over US$29 billion.
The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) price has been the biggest mover among the major coins with a gain of almost 9% during the last 24 hours to US$958.02 per token. The bitcoin offshoot's market capitalisation has now increased to US$16.4 billion. Traders have been fighting to get hold of BCH after one crypto investment firm suggested that it was on the verge of breaking out.
The Litecoin (LTC) price has climbed 4.3% during the period to reach US$144.73 per coin. Litecoin now has a market capitalisation of just over US$8.1 billion.
The gains were once again just as strong outside the top five as traders continue to snap up altcoins.
This led to the EOS (EOS) price rising over 5% to US$9.27, the Cardano (ADA) price climbing 5.5% to 26.9 U.S. cents, and the Stellar Lumens (XLM) price pushing 5.4% higher to 36.3 U.S. cents.
What's next?
Sentiment certainly is strong at the moment, especially for altcoins, and if it remains this way then I can see the market climbing higher still. However, it doesn't take much to spook the market, so traders ought to stay prepared for that sudden change of sentiment if and when it comes.
