Bitcoin Inches to $6,000 While US Stocks Drop

Tuesday, May 7 — following some moderate losses yesterday, the crypto markets have rallied to break new 2019 highs today, with bitcoin (BTC) inching close to $6,000.

All the top 20 coins by market cap are solidly in green at press time, with ether (ETH) and tezos (XTZ) seeing the biggest gains over the past 24 hours at press time. Both coins are up more than 8% over the day.

Market visualization from Coin360

After slipping under the $5,700 threshold yesterday, bitcoin rose 4.4% to trade at $5,947 at press time. The major cryptocurrency has broken the $5,900 support for the first time in 2019, while still hovering around the price points of November 2018. The biggest cryptocurrency is seeing one of the biggest gains among the top 20 coins over the past 7 days, up around 12.7%.

Bitcoin’s dominance on the markets accounts for 55.8%.

Bitcoin 24-hour price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is trading at $177, up 8.3% over the past 24 hours at press time. The biggest altcoin is up around 12% over the week.

Yesterday, Cointelegraph reported that ether volumes on decentralized applications have recorded a new high.

Ether 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

XRP, the third-top cryptocurrency by market cap, is slightly up 1.6% to trading at $0.304. Over the past 7 days, the altcoin is up about 1%.

XRP 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Total market capitalization amounts to $188 billion at press time, up from $180 billion in the beginning of the day, while daily trading volume surged from $47 billion to $55 billion at press time.

Total market capitalization 7-day chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

On May 6, Bloomberg reported that $7 trillion investment firm Fidelity is reportedly soon planning to launch bitcoin trading for institutional clients.

Yesterday, popular global coffee network Starbucks was reported to deploy a blockchain-based coffee tracking system using the Azure Blockchain Service by tech giant Microsoft.

Recently, social media giant Facebook allegedly received the rights to the “Libra” trademark for its highly secretive cryptocurrency project. According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook is seeking an investment worth $1 billion to develop the much rumored initiative.

Meanwhile, the United States stock market continued to drop today, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) slipping more than 130 points at the open, as CNBC reports. At press time, the DJIA is down 0.25%, while the S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (NASDAQ) Composite both declined about 0.5%.

Oil prices also slipped today amid new doubts over United States-China trade talks. At press time, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is down 1%, while Brent crude and the OPEC basket dropped 1.2% and 0.5% respectively, according to Oilprice.com.

Bitcoin Breaks Back Above $5,500, Cryptos Recover From Major Sell-Off   April 25, 2019
Bitcoin Holds $4,000, British Pound Loses to USD as Brexit Anticipation Grows   March 25, 2019
Crypto Markets Lose $2 Billion After Brief Recovery Attempt, US Stock Market Is Down   Feb. 26, 2019
Bitcoin Price Near $3,400, Wider Crypto Markets See Another Mild Slump   Dec. 13, 2018
Crypto Markets Continue Rise With Market Cap Reaching Over $220 Billion   Sept. 27, 2018