The cryptocurrency market's strong run ended abruptly overnight with heavy declines being seen across the board.
At the time of writing the entire crypto market is worth US$331.3 billion according to Coin Market Cap. This is down 4% or US$14 billion from US$345.3 billion this time yesterday.
Here is the state of play on Friday morning:
The bitcoin (BTC) price is down 3.5% over the last 24 hours to US$8,641.51 per coin, reducing its market capitalisation to US$146.3 billion. The world's largest cryptocurrency came under pressure overnight after reports emerged claiming that Japanese regulators are about to tell crypto exchange Binance to stop operating in the country without a license. However, according to Bloomberg, the exchange's founder, Zhao Changpeng, told the news outlet that Binance has been working towards acquiring a license in Japan and that it is "engaged in constructive dialogue" with regulators and has "not received any mandates."
The ethereum (ETH) price has fallen much harder during the period and is down 6% to US$530.12 per token. This decline leaves ethereum with a market capitalisation of just over US$52.1 billion.
The Ripple (XRP) price has also been heavily sold-off over the last 24 hours. The popular altcoin is down 6% during this time to 65.36 U.S. cents, giving it a market capitalisation of US$25.55 billion.
The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) price is down 3.5% since this time yesterday to US$998.60 per token. Bitcoin Cash now has a market capitalisation of US$17 billion.
The Litecoin (LTC) price is off 5% during the last 24 hours to US$161.72. This has reduced Litecoin's market capitalisation to just over US$9 billion.
Outside the top five the Cardano (ADA) price has been one of the worst performers over the last 24 hours. It is down almost 8% during the period to 20.1 U.S. cents. Cardano had been on an impressive run this week, which could mean profit taking is weighing on its performance today.
What's next?
That's the million-dollar question. All being well, the market will move on from this hiccup during Asian trade today, but at this stage sentiment is certainly looking a little fragile and I wouldn't be overly surprised to see prices decline further.
