Crypto Today: Bitcoin slides toward $15K, Ripple's market cap drops below $100 billion

After starting the previous week on a positive note and gathering strength ahead of the weekend, the BTC/USD pair lost its traction on Sunday and lost nearly $2K in the last two days. According to the latest available data on coinmarketcap.com, the pair was trading at $15,127.50, losing 7.46% on the day. News of China looking to put an end to mining operations in the country seems to be weighing on the sentiment surrounding Bitcoin.

In an article written for coindesk.com, FXStreet analyst Omkar Godbole noted, "Caixin Global reported last week that local regulators in China may no longer offer discounted electricity and tax deductions to mining companies. Further, a leaked document now suggests that China's top internet finance regulator is requesting that local governments push bitcoin-mining operations towards an "orderly exit" from the industry."

On the other hand, Ripple, which staged an impressive rally toward the end of the year, continues to erase its gains. On Monday, coinmarketcap.com announced that it was going to exclude prices taken from Korean exchanges while calculating the average price that it publishes for the XRP. Following this decision, the total market capitalization of Ripple dropped below the $100 billion mark to move down to the third spot on the top ten chart. Meanwhile, Etherum found demand with investors moving away from Bitcoin and Ripple and became the second largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $110 billion. As of writing, the ETH/USD pair is adding 1.35% at $1143.