A rising tide lifts all coins. Although the bitcoin price’s record-setting run has enabled the flagship cryptocurrency’s dominant share of the market to swell in recent months, altcoins have made steady gains, too.
Over the weekend, the total altcoin market cap crossed $100 billion for the first time – just as the bitcoin price was setting a new record at $8,100 – and the total number of coins with market caps exceeding $1 billion rose to 13.
Consequently, it should come as no surprise that the total cryptocurrency market cap reached a new all-time high, as well. The total crypto market cap is currently trading at $239.6 billion, which represents a 24-hour gain of two-and-a-half percent and a weekly surge of approximately 20 percent.
Bitcoin Price Touches $8,100
The global average bitcoin price set a new all-time high on Sunday evening, briefly touching the $8,100 mark before receding to a present value of $8,033. This translates into a daily gain of more than three percent and gives bitcoin a market cap of $134 billion.
Bitcoin Price Chart
This rally appears to be a continuation of last week’s uptrend, which was fueled primarily by bullishness that Wall Street investors are preparing to make a major splash in the bitcoin ecosystem.
Ethereum Price Heading to All-Time High?
The ethereum price held relatively stable on Monday, losing a bit more than one dollar to bring the second-largest cryptocurrency to a present value of $358. Ethereum maintains a market cap of approximately $34.3 billion.
Ethereum Price Chart
Despite this disappointing single-day performance, the ethereum price has assembled a nice rally during mid-November. In the past week alone, the ethereum price has risen by about $40, and billionaire hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz predicts that it is set to rise even higher – perhaps eclipsing the elusive $400 mark for the first time.
Altcoins Crack $100 Billion
The combined altcoin market cap burst through another barrier on Monday. After beginning the year with a combined capitalization of just $2.2 billion, the altcoin markets have exploded by approximately 5,000 percent and are now worth a combined $105.2 billion.
Ethereum has been the primary driver of this trend. Not only has the ethereum price surged by roughly $350 since January 1, but the rise of ethereum-based initial coin offerings (ICOs) has injected billions of dollars in new capital into the ecosystem and captured the attention of mainstream investors.
That said, other altcoins have made significant progress as well, and that trend continued on Monday, as eight of the top 10 cryptocurrencies posted single-day advances.
The bitcoin cash price rose two percent, indicating that its price has ceased to be inversely-tethered to that of bitcoin. The ripple price rose four percent, and the litecoin price rose two percent to cross the $70 threshold.
Seven-Day Litecoin Price Chart
The dash price rose about one percent, while IOTA’s surge continued with yet another double-digit increase. The NEO price declined five percent after a weekend rally, and the monero price surpassed the $130 mark on the heels of a three percent increase. NEM rounded out the top 10 with a seven percent increase that brought its market cap within striking distance of $2 billion.
