A bullish 2017 for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has helped spur the overall cryptocurrency market cap through a series of highs this year, to nearly scale $28 billion over the weekend.
On Sunday, April 2, the collective market cap from Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (alt coins) reached an all-time high of $27.9 billion. In the lead-up to that figure, combined cryptocurrency trading volumes exceeded $860 million in a 24-hour period. The swell has been helped by strong showing from a number of cryptocurrencies including Litecoin and Ripple, both of which have witnessed tremendous gains over the past week. Litecoin prices have doubled in a 5-day period, while Ripple prices soared to a 2 year high, scaling beyond $800 million in total market capitalization. A record-setting March for Ethereum also helped the combined altcoin market to push beyond $10 billion for the first time ever over the weekend.
While bitcoin remains the undisputed king in its dominance of the overall market, its overall influence has dropped to all-time lows after marked gains from altcoins.
Bitcoin’s overall share of the total cryptocurrency market cap slipped under 65% for the first time ever on Sunday. Uncertainties from the ongoing scalability debate have resulted in bitcoin dropping below $1,000 after mid-March but a recent strong showing has pushed bitcoin back above $1,100 as the market appears to cement the milestone as the new support.
Altogether, the value of the combined cryptocurrency market has gained nearly 350% compared to this time a month ago, underlining the remarkable rise in adopters’ and investors’ interest in cryptocurrencies.
Featured image from Shutterstock. Charts from CoinMarketCap.
