It has been another disappointing day of trade on the crypto market on Tuesday.
With declines being seen across the board, the entire value of the market has dropped US$8 billion or 2.5% since this morning to US$332.7 billion according to Coin Market Cap.
Why are cryptocurrencies tumbling lower?
It is a little unclear what the main catalyst for today's selloff is, but it could have been driven by reports about a significant drop in searches for Bitcoin (BTC).
According to CNBC, Google Trends data reveals that web searches for "Bitcoin" have fallen 75% since the start of the year and have halved in just the last three months.
It has been a similar story for Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Ripple (XRP). Searches for these terms have fallen by 70%, 82%, and 87%, respectively, since early in 2018.
Another reason for concern is the slowdown in the number of new Bitcoin wallets being created. The report indicates that there has only been a 3.7% lift in new wallets this year, where late last year Bitcoin wallet numbers were growing 7.6% monthly.
I think this is a touch worrying for the crypto market as a lack of new money into the market to support prices could easily lead to prices capitulating over the long term.
What is the state of play this afternoon?
At present the Bitcoin price is down 3.3% since this time yesterday to US$7,429.07, leaving it with a market capitalisation of US$126.9 billion.
The Ethereum price is down a further 5% to US$585.10, reducing its market capitalisation to US$58.4 billion.
The Ripple price has tumbled 4.5% lower over the last 24 hours to 65.2 U.S. cents. This leaves XRP with a market capitalisation of just under US$25.6 billion.
The Bitcoin Cash price has plunged 7.5% since this time yesterday to US$1,077.79, reducing its market capitalisation to US$18.5 billion.
The EOS (EOS) price has sunk almost 8% lower to US$13.14, giving it a market capitalisation of US$11.8 billion.
Outside the top five the declines were just as severe. Litecoin (LTC) is down 5.5%, Cardano (ADA) is 7.2% lower, Stellar (XLM) is off 6.9%, IOTA (MIOTA) has fallen 4.4%, and TRON (TRX) is 5.5% lower.
