Ripple Recovery Cools, Slumps 10%; Bitcoin Eases From Highs

Investing.com – Ripple’s XRP fell from highs as the threat of regulation continued to dictate direction in crypto-markets, halting the digital currency's recovery from a recent sell-off.

The threat of regulation intensified as a host of countries were said to be exploring possible measures to regulate bitcoin after South Korea and China said earlier this week they would step up cryptocurrency regulatory efforts which could include an outright ban on cryptocurrency-related activity.

France and Germany are expected to make joint proposals to regulate bitcoin at next month’s G20 summit, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday.

While the threat of regulation has been highlighted by many as the main reason for the recent crash, others have said that the slump represented a market correction, which is reasonable giving the rapid rise of cryptocurrencies in recent months.

Whether the selloff was the result of a market correction or fears over regulation does little to change the fact that crypto-investors remain wary of returning to the market, which remains billions of dollars lighter compared to pre-crash levels.

The total cryptocurrency market cap slumped to a low of around $478 billion at the depth of the crash on Wednesday before rebounding to around $562 billion Friday. That is markedly lower than the $829 billion total market cap set less than two weeks ago on Jan. 7.

Ripple XRP fell 10.69% to $1.47 well below its all-time high of $3.28 on the poloniex exchange. While Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, fell 4.55% to $1018.

Bitcoin, fell 4.09% to $11,194 after coming under heavy pressure in a two-day sell off that had wiped off nearly $50 billion from its market cap.

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