Earlier this week the world's cryptocurrencies crashed lower amid speculation of government crackdowns in China and South Korea.
For a little while it looked as though the bubble had burst and bitcoin and the altcoins were done.
But to the surprise of many, cryptocurrencies have made an impressive recovery over the last 48 hours.
Here's the state of play in the industry this morning:
The bitcoin (BTC) price is up 12% over the last 24 hours to US$12,016. This means that the world's largest cryptocurrency now has a market capitalisation of US$202 billion.
The ethereum (ETH) price has climbed 14% during the last 24 hours to US$1,092. This has increased the largest altcoin's market capitalisation to approximately US$106 billion.
The Ripple (XRP) price is up a whopping 47% since this time yesterday to $1.69. XRP was one of the worst impacted cryptocurrencies during the sell-off but has recovered well. Its price is now up over 72% from its Wednesday low of 98 cents. It has a market capitalisation of US$65.6 billion.
The bitcoin cash (BCH) price is 16% higher over the last 24 hours to US$1,878. The bitcoin spin-off now has a market capitalisation is US$31.8 billion.
The cardano (ADA) price has pushed 21% higher to 70.3 U.S. cents during the last 24 hours. This has given the fifth-largest cryptocurrency a market capitalisation of US$18.2 billion.
Where next?
I think a lot will depend on whether or not there is a crackdown on cryptocurrency trading in South Korea and China. If there is then I feel prices could tumble again, but if there isn't then I see no reason why traders won't pile in again and drive prices higher.
But what these governments choose to do is impossible to predict, so I think the prudent thing to do is to watch on from the safety of the sidelines for now.
