Crypto market overview: welcome to hell

Cryptocurrency market tumbled down late on Thursday. Traders rushed to exit amid growing anti-risk sentiments and the collapse on the global equity markets. 

While enthusiasts still believe that digital assets will serve as a safe bet against the backdrop of falling prices for traditional financial assets, currently, the crypto market is dominated by anti-risk sentiments.

“There’s a growing list of investment tailwinds to consider for 2019. These include significant trade tensions, rising interest rates, political uncertainties, including Brexit, and complacent financial markets. Against this backdrop, we can expect cryptocurrencies will increasingly be seen as investors’ ‘safe havens’ in 2019 and beyond,” Ian McLeod from a blockchain-based company Thomas Crown Art.

However, at this point, there is little evidence that investors consider virtual assets as a safe havens.

Bitcoin is down 10% on a day-to-day basis. The first digital coin is trading marginally above $3,300 handle, which is the lowest level since mid-September 2017. Ethereum, the second largest digital asset, lost over 17% of its value to trade at $84.80 by the time of writing. Ripple's XRP is down 11% to $0.2990. 

All major altcoins out of top20 incur significant double-digit losses with the only notable exception of Bitcoin SV. Once an outsider, this newly born coin gained 22% in recent 24 hours and jumped to the 5th place in cryptocurrency ratings. Moreover, Bitcoin SV overtook its rival Bitcoin ABC (currently Bitcoin Cash).

The total value of digital assets in circulation reduced to $106B from $120B on Thursday. All in all, the cryptocurrency market capitalization dropped nearly 90% from its peak.