Bitcoin Approaches $5,300 as US Stocks See Growth

Wednesday, April 10 — most of the top 20 cryptocurrencies are reporting slight to moderate gains on the day by press time, as Bitcoin (BTC) approaches the $5,300 mark.

Market visualization courtesy of Coin360

Bitcoin’s price is up just over one percent on the day, trading at around $5,272 by press time, according to CoinMarketCap. Looking at its weekly chart, the current price is about 4% higher than $5,038, the price at which Bitcoin started the week.

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

As Cointelegraph reported earlier today, the Japanese finance regulator the Financial Services Agency discussed not describing Bitcoin as a virtual currency in a recent hearing.

Ethereum (ETH) is holding onto its position as the largest altcoin by market cap, which is at about $18.9 billion. The second-largest altcoin, Ripple (XRP), has a market cap of about $14.8 billion by press time.

ETH is also up by about 1.5% over the last 24 hours. At press time, ETH is trading around $180, after having started the day at $177. On its weekly chart, also ETH has seen its value increase by about 5%.

Ethereum 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Charles Hoskinson, the co-founder of Ethereum and IOHK, the company behind Cardano (ADA), criticized Ethereum and Eos’s approach to development in a recently published interview.

Second-largest altcoin Ripple has gained about 1.6% over the 24 hours to press time and is currently trading at around $0.356. Looking at the coin’s weekly chart, its current price is just over one percent lower than the price at which it started the week, but still over 8% higher than the mid-week low it reported last Thursday.

Ripple 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Among the top 20 cryptocurrencies, the one reporting the most notable growth is Eos (EOS), which is up about 7% at press time. Cardano (ADA) is also seeing more volatility than most coins today, up over 4% by press time.

The total market cap of all cryptocurrencies is currently equivalent to $182.7 billion, which is almost 3.3% higher than $176.7 billion, the value it saw a week ago.

In traditional markets, the United States stock market is seeing discreet gains so far today, with the S&P 500 up 0.21% and Nasdaq up 0.46% to press time. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), on the other hand, has lost a 2.73% on the day to press time.

Earlier today, CNBC reported that U.S. stocks have seen little movement so far, as investors wait for the Federal Reserve to release its minutes and earnings.

Major oil futures and indexes are showing mixed movements today, with WTI Crude up 0.45%, Brent Crude up 1.03% and Mars US down 1.48% to press time. Opec Basket on the other hand is up a slight 0.03% and the Canadian Crude Index has seen its value increase by 0.31%, according to OilPrices.