After an early-morning decline that saw bitcoin (BTC-USD), Ethereum (ETH-USD), and Ripple (XRP-USD), and other leading digital currencies drop sharply, the market seems to have reversed course. As of mid-afternoon on Tuesday, all of the major cryptocurrencies are now positive for the day.
Here's the latest on cryptocurrency price action, the ongoing South Korean regulation saga, and billionaire investor Ray Dalio's comments about bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency prices have been taking investors on a roller-coaster ride. Image source: Getty Images.
Today's cryptocurrency prices
Below are the five largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization and how much each has changed over the past 24 hours.
|
Cryptocurrency Name (Code) |
Price in U.S. Dollars |
Day's Change |
|---|---|---|
|
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) |
$11,024.00 |
6% |
|
Ethereum (ETH-USD) |
$987.40 |
1.9% |
|
Ripple (XRP-USD) |
$1.33 |
12.7% |
|
Bitcoin Cash (BCH-USD) |
$1,635.30 |
4.3% |
|
Cardano (ADA-USD) |
$0.57 |
5.1% |
Data source: www.investing.com. Prices and daily changes as of Jan. 23, 2018, at 2:45 p.m. EST, and prices are rounded to the nearest cent where appropriate.
A wild Tuesday for cryptocurrencies
As you can see, all five of the largest cryptocurrencies are positive for the day, but this is somewhat deceptive. Tuesday has been quite a roller-coaster ride for bitcoin and the rest.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) dropped to a low of $9,975 on Tuesday morning, below the key psychological $10,000 level, before rebounding quickly to as much as $11,344. Ethereum (ETH-USD) dipped to $910 shortly before 7 a.m. EST, but rebounded to as much as $1,019 before running out of steam. And Ripple (XRP-USD), which has been quite volatile recently, actually crashed less than the others, falling by just a few cents to $1.18 at its worst point, before rising sharply to be the day's top performer among the major cryptocurrencies.
More clarity on South Korean regulation
The primary driver of last week's volatility in the cryptocurrency markets was uncertainty surrounding global regulations, particularly in South Korea. And while it doesn't appear to be fueling today's moves, we got a little more clarity about some of the actions being taken.
Specifically, South Korea announced on Tuesday that its proposed ban on anonymous trading accounts will go into effect in one week, on Jan. 30.
In a nutshell, in order to deposit money into a cryptocurrency exchange account, South Koreans must attach their real names to the accounts. If this isn't done, only withdrawals will be allowed.
It remains to be seen how much of an effect this will have on trading. After all, one of the perks of using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is for anonymity. However, it's fair to say that not all cryptocurrency traders particularly care if their names are attached to their accounts. So, this will likely result in a reduction of new money flowing into South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges -- it's just a question of how big the reduction will be.
What Ray Dalio just said about bitcoin
Speaking with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio expressed his concern about bitcoin.
"It was a bubble. It is a bubble," Dalio said. "I don't know how to value it. I believe in the blockchain technology. I think it's great, but that notion of how to trade it and how to value it is not my expertise."
