Bitcoin tops $4700, altcoins at new highs; a wrap of the major action on cryptostreet

Beginning with the birth of bitcoin cash, cryptostreet has been abuzz more than usual in the month of August. Led by bitcoin, many major altcoins touched new highs over the past few days. The rally comes on the back of growing awareness and introduction of these cryptoassets in new markets.

Here’s a look at some of the most popular cryptocurrencies and how they have fared over the month.

Bitcoin

Termed as virtual gold, the world’s first cryptocurrency rallied over 60 percent since the start of August to set new highs over USD 4,700 on Tuesday. As per the Coindesk price index, bitcoin topped at USD 4703 before seeing a minor pullback to levels of USD 4600.

Hesham Rehman, co-founder and CEO of Bitxoxo, says that bitcoin price is rising due to growing demand and trust in cryptocurrencies. He also terms the activation of Segwit, a recent patch in the biotin protocol to streamline transactions, as a reason for this rally.

“We anticipate a further rise in price as growing awareness will result in growing demand,” he adds.

Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO and co-founder, Unocoin isof the opinion that bitcoin is completely a new type of asset for a common man to understand and to relate.

“As long as it continues to attract new crowds, the price will keep increasing to attain new heights. It is very difficult to judge its true value today as I still believe the technology and its need has a lot more under its hood," he adds.

Ethereum

Having the second highest market cap after bitcoin, the price of ether has started to rally again. After seeing a major pullback from its all-time high above USD 400, ether has regained its footing and is close to its peak levels.

Ether has rallied close to 90 percent in the past 30 days and at time of reporting was trading at levels of USD 377, as per Coinmarketcap.

The rally comes on the back of heavy buying from South Korea.

Bitcoin cash

Born after bitcoin’s hard fork, bitcoin cash has had a roller coaster ride since its inception. There was wild price fluctuation during the initial days post which it remained calm at levels of USD 300.

In the third week of August, the price saw a sudden spike close to levels of USD 1,000 and since then has receded back to levels of USD 500.

At the time of reporting, bitcoin cash was trading at USD 566, as per coinmarketcap.

Litecoin

Called as crypto’s silver, litecoin has been around since 2011. It has not received a lot of mainstream limelight but remains to be quite popular among crypto enthusiasts.

Litecoin has rallied over 50 percent in August to all-time highs of USD 64 and is up around 1300 percent year-to-date.

At time of reporting, it was trading at levels of USD 61, as per coinmarketcap.

Ripple

Known as the corporate cousin of bitcoin, ripple is another cryptocurrency which saw sudden uptick in August. It shot from levels of 16 cents to 30 cents within a span of 24 hours on August 23. Since then, it has retreated back to levels of 20 cents.

Monero

Known as the cryptic among cryptocurrencies, monero is another token which gained momentum this month. Monero is an altcoin which provides more privacy to its users as compared to bitcoin.

After being launched over a few exchanges in South Korea, the price of monero skyrocketed. It went from levels USD 40 to all-time highs of USD 154 in August.

Monero was trading at levels of USD 127 at press time, as per coinmarketcap.

Crypto marketcap

With new highs across the board, the total market cap of cryptoassets touched touch new heights as well.

The cryptocurrency marketcap reached new highs of USD 166 billion, an 88 percent increase over the past 30 days.

The market value of virtual currencies has ballooned as over as many as 800 publicly traded cryptocurrencies and assets have now started trading.

India scenario

While the government is yet to lay down a legal framework for cryptocurrencies, many exchanges have emerged which provide a platform for buying and selling of these assets.