By Once again, it’s a red day for all the major cryptocurrencies except for Bitcoin. On Monday, Bitcoin prices dipped to as low as $5674, but soon found buyers’ support and bounced back to near $6000 levels, posting a market cap of $99.2 billion.
There are rumors suggesting that Japan might ban initial coin offering in the country. This has led a further decline in Ethereum prices. Ethereum is struggling to gain momentum even after a successful hard fork. Bitcoin, however, ticked up to $5,960, further solidifying its dominant hold on the markets.
The total cryptocurrency market cap was positioned near $175 billion late last week as Bitcoin registered an all-time high to cross $6,100 for the first time, but a slight correction took place over the course of the weekend, eventually reaching $170.6 billion on Sunday. At the time of writing total crypto market cap stands at $169 billion with Bitcoin dominating the markets by 58.7%.
As Bitcoin climbed from $5,000, investors and traders opted to continue stockpiling the virtual currency ahead of the two hard forks due Tuesday and Nov. 18. Analysts are suggesting that after the network snapshot for the first of the forks, Bitcoin Gold, money could quickly flow back into altcoins.
A lack of replay protection is a particular aspect of both hard forks that is keeping business away from it. However, Bittrex, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has said it will credit users with equivalent Bitcoin Gold (BTG) balances while warning against the fork’s technological limitations.
Top Stories from the Crypto World
1. Mark Cuban backed ICO raises $31 million
Billionaire celebrity investor, Mark Cuban’s E-sports betting startup Unikrn, has raised roughly $31 million in an initial coin offering. The company collected a total of 112,720 Ethers, including 56,000 ETH (roughly $15.6 million) in a presale backed by Mark Cuban.
The idea is that Unikoin Gold, the token that was up for sale, will act as a common medium of exchange for bettors to use on the platform, which allows for placing bets on games like League of Legends, Defense Against the Ancients (Dota) and CounterStrike, among others.
2. Crypto companies in the UK struggle with traditional banks
Companies in the UK that deal with cryptocurrencies are having a hard time with traditional banking systems. This is forcing many of these companies to go offshore for their banking needs. Places like Gibraltar, Poland and Bulgaria are hotspots for these companies.
Banks are wary of cryptocurrencies because there is a fear that digital currencies could one day make banks obsolete. James Godfrey, head of capital markets at BlockEx, a platform for trading digital assets including cryptocurrencies, said Metro Bank recently shut its UK account, forcing it to rely on a Bulgarian lender to keep trading.
James is not alone. Many such stories are emerging. Michael Hudson, chief executive of the Bitcoin investment firm Bitstocks, said:
“It is almost an impossibility to get a UK bank account. We bank in Gibraltar and Poland – the two jurisdictions that are most stable. We had an account in Bulgaria, but that didn’t last long.”
3. Bitcoin will implode one day: Saudi Prince Alwaleed
Another high profile investor has come out against Bitcoin. This time it is Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. According to Alwaleed, Bitcoin doesn’t make sense because it’s unregulated and not in control of supervision of any central bank.
“I just don’t believe in this bitcoin thing. I think it’s just going to implode one day,” he said. “I think this is Enron in the making.”