Cryptocurrency Market Update: Bitcoin unrelenting in the fight for $10,000

The bulls across the market appear to be waking up after gruesome mid-week trading due to unexpected bearish pressure. The total market capitalization has grown slightly from $274 billion at the close of the trading session on Thursday to $278 billion at the time of writing. At the same time, the volume on exchanges has grown by only $2 billion to $89 billion.

The king of the crypto universe, Bitcoin has not been left behind, neither has it abandoned the desire to hit again at the levels above $10,000. In the course of the American session on Thursday, Bitcoin resumed the uptrend at some point breaking the hurdle at $9,700. The same bullish momentum embraced on Friday with BTC/USD making it above $9,800. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is teetering at $9,805 and facing a building bullish trend.

The queen of the universe, Ethereum not only defended the support above $240 but also overcame the resistance at $245. Unfortunately, buyers seem to have lost steam in the fight to jump past $250. Meanwhile, a lower adjustment has sent Ether back to $243. The ongoing bullish trend coupled with expanding volatility means that ETH is ready for another run-up to $250.

The third-largest cryptocurrency, XRP is trading a subtle 0.12% higher from the opening ($0.2042). On the upside, an intraday high at $0.2050 has marked the end of the bull-run on Friday in the Asian hours. Ripple is facing a bearish momentum that could push it from $0.2045 (market value) towards $0.20 (key support).

In other news, major banks in Japan are currently exploring digital currency payments interoperability. Through a study group created by various organizations including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, and Mizuho Financial Group Inc, along with major railway company East Japan Railway. The group enjoys the support of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) as well as the Financial Services Agency (FSA), the nation’s regulator.

The study group is also seeking ways on how decentralized ledger technology (DLT) can be leveraged to come up with a robust digital currency payment platform. In addition to that, the think tank is also looking into the development of a future interbank crypto payment gateway.