The cryptocurrency market's incredible run continued during overnight trade with small gains being made across the board.
This took the value of the entire market to within an inch of the US$400 billion mark, according to Coin Market Cap.
Here is the state of play on Tuesday morning:
The bitcoin (BTC) price is up 0.2% over the last 24 hours to US$8,919.34 per coin. This has edged bitcoin's market capitalisation up to US$151.6 billion. Bitcoin was given a boost overnight when venture capitalist Tim Draper reiterated his bullish call for the cryptocurrency to reach US$250,000 by 2022.
The Ethereum (ETH) price has risen 0.4% since this time yesterday to US$640.01 per token, lifting its market capitalisation to US$63.4 billion.
The Ripple (XRP) price has seen its strong run end and is down 1.8% over the last 24 hours to 87.2 U.S. cents. This leaves Ripple with a reduced market capitalisation of just under US$34.2 billion.
The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) price has been the star performer during the last 24 hours and is up a sizeable 13.5% to US$1,401.89 per token. This gives Bitcoin Cash a market capitalisation of just under US$24 billion. Traders have been snapping up BCH ahead of its hard fork on May 15 that will create a new and improved cryptocurrency – Bitcoin ABC.
The EOS (EOS) price has edged 0.3% higher since this time yesterday to US$11.56, improving its market capitalisation to US$9.4 billion.
The performances of the cryptocurrencies outside the top five were reasonably mixed overnight. While Litecoin (LTC) pushed 1.3% higher, IOTA (MIOTA) rose 3% and NEO (NEO) climbed 1.3%, there were declines of at least 1.4% for the likes of Cardano (ADA) and Stellar Lumens (XLM).
What's next?
With momentum starting to slow, I think the next 24 hours will be key for the cryptocurrency market. If prices can hold at these levels then I see no reason why they won't continue higher over the next week or so.
But there is always a chance that profit taking will weigh heavily on the market after such a strong run. This could make it worthwhile holding off from an investment and watching on from the safety of the sidelines instead.
