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After a small uptick across all major cryptocurrencies, most of them are back to the slow downtrend first observed late last week.
Even though Bitcoin and Ethereum recovered slightly yesterday and then managed to hold their ground for some part of the past 24 hours, it seems as if the upwards momentum was nowhere near enough to support a sustained bull run. As of the time of writing this article, both cryptocurrencies are down by 2 to 3%. Based off discussions in a number of cryptocurrency communities, the mentality amongst investors is starting to look increasingly gloomy with the passage of time.
Bitcoin Cash is similar in this respect as it failed to sustain the $900 price point for long and is now trading negative at $875, a significant decline since last week’s $1000.
Litecoin is perhaps the worst loser of the past day, with a price drop of close to 7% since yesterday. At $130, it won’t be long before the digital currency once again retests the $100 support level it established during the major dip in February. The phenomenon is quite surprising given that the cryptocurrency has been holding steady at or above $150 for quite some time now.
Monero is the only crypto that is showing an increase in valuation over the past day, but at a modest 0.5%, that position may not exist for too long.
In other news, the total market capitalization of all digital currencies has dropped below $300 billion once again. However, on a more positive note, BTC dominance is up to 45%, the highest it has reached in several months.
Top Stories from the Crypto World
1. Associations announce lawsuits against internet companies for banning crypto advertisements
Shortly after Twitter, Google and Facebook announced that they would be banning cryptocurrency and ICO-related advertisements on their respective platforms, it appears as if companies in the ecosystem are appearing to fight back.
The newly founded Eurasian Blockchain Association (EBA) has declared that it will be hounding these companies with legal obligations, including, initially, a class action lawsuit.
A representative working with the EBA stated, “We think these four companies are using their monopoly power and have colluded to manipulate the market.” The fourth company involved at this time appears to be the Russian social media website, Yandex.
2. Nelson Mandela’s golden hand castings sell for $10 million in BTC
The famous Nelson Mandela Golden Hands Collection, made entirely out of solid Gold, has been sold for a whopping $10 million, paid for entirely in Bitcoin. The buyer of the artifact is reportedly the Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, Arbitrade.
The hands were first purchased by a Canadian citizen, Mr. Duncan, in 2002 for $31,000 and weigh a total of 20 pounds. Given the recent death of the former South African President, he felt that this would be an opportune time for him to sell the hands to a collector.
The instance is not the first time an art sale has been facilitated through cryptocurrency though. In January 2018, for example, a fine art exhibition made cryptocurrency-exclusive sales its primary highlight. In 2017, a painting named ‘Select a Victim’ was also auctioned for $100,000 worth of BTC.
3. Ford files patent for digital token-aided autonomous driving system
Ford, the automobile manufacturer, has quietly filed for a new patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In a bid to combat traffic congestion in the future, Ford has designed a new system that it is calling “Cooperatively Managed Merge and Pass (CMMP)”.
According to the patent, self-driving cars will be fitted with communication modules in order to correspond with other neighboring vehicles. If a particular vehicle’s owner is in a hurry, he can choose to offer other cars a digital token to negotiate a faster lane, which in turn, would give him a slight advantage.
The company perhaps believes that this blockchain-enabled model will help solve traffic congestion. Other companies have also been quietly conducting similar blockchain-based trials, most notably, for example, Mercedes-Benz.