Prices of the most prominent digital currencies tied to the bitcoin and Ethereum networks fell sharply on Tuesday, extending their retreat from records set last month, even as the nascent market shows signs of maturing.
A single bitcoin BTCUSD, -8.84% which hit an all-time high above $3,000 on June 11, was on Tuesday morning trading 7.2% lower at $2,580.28. Meanwhile, Ether, the currency underpinning the Ethereum network, fell about 8% to trade at $205.21. The cryptocurrency peaked at $395.16 on June 13, according to cryptocurrency research-and-data site Coindesk.
Read: Bitcoin may have reached a tipping point, now that ‘Downtown’ Josh Brown just invested
Both bitcoin and Ether had been on a tear so far this year. Bitcoin’s market value, representing all the value outstanding bitcoins in its network, has risen more than 160% since the start of the year, sending its total market value to $42.4 billion.
But the ascent of Ether in 2017 has been even more impressive. Since the start of the year, Ether has skyrocketed in value by 2,500%. Ether’s market capitalization at its peak last month was nearly as big as Bitcoin’s, but after recent retreat, it’s at $19.25 billion.
The total value of all cryptocurrencies is about $89 billion, according to Coinmarketcap.com.
Gyrations in digital currencies come as a bitcoin options exchange, LedgerX, received regulatory approval on Monday from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to clear options trades in digital currencies, notably bitcoin. The options exchange would be the first of its kind and may add to the legitimacy and expansion of the cybercurrency market.
Bitcoin also has been in the news lately, as an overwhelming majority of miners, the computer operators, who maintain its blockchain network, backed a software upgrade that will boost the speed of processing transactions, likely averting a split that could have resulted in multiple versions of the digital currency.
if you like our post plz upvote and follow me
thankyou