Bitcoin & Co. plunged to new lows during the past 24 hours as the recent sell-off in crypto markets gathered momentum.
Bitcoin (BTC/USD) fell as low as $313 on BTC-e, falling by over 5% after retracing yesterday's losses back to $329. It is currently trading at $316.50 on noticeably higher volume averaging 500 BTC/hour. Today's bottom was its lowest point since early October, when BTC plunged below $300. It now finds itself within 10% of new 2014 lows.
Litecoin, which already set a new 2014 low yesterday as it broke through $3, failed to make any meaningful retracement. It actually endured a mini flash crash, briefly diving by 15% to as low as $2.59. After recovering close to $3, it resumed its slump to below $2.90.
Two exceptions to today's mayhem are Ripple 's XRP and Stellar. One can argue that XRP is in vertical pump mode as traders pile in, expecting the rise to continue. It has gained another 22% to 7,750 satoshi ($0.0244), its highest level in over 14 months. Its market cap is now over $760 million.
Rival Stellar (STR) has resumed its winning ways, as well, gaining more than 100% in December to as high as 1,368 satoshi. It has since come off earlier highs, trading at 1,130 ($0.0036) - leaping back into eighth spot in market cap rank, after falling to 12th, passing slumping coins caught in the latest downturn. Its total valuation is now $12.6 million.
