The weekend turned out to be quite controversial for the altcoin market. On Saturday, the indicators of the main cryptocurrencies were actively growing, but the sudden collapse of bitcoin quotes did not leave the coins a chance. As a result, on May 17, the cryptocurrency market shrank by 8%, and the total capitalization fell to $2.1 trillion.
Ethereum confidently held its position near the all-time high of around $4,000, the main altcoin had all the prerequisites for continuing growth and setting a new record. If you look at the charts, you can see that the fall in ETH/USD quotes began on May 16, when bitcoin indicators began a downward movement. Musk's negative statements finished off BTC, which began to affect the performance of all cryptocurrencies. As a result, the impending correction of Ethereum was aggravated by a sharp collapse of the entire market. As of 13:00 UTC, the ETH/USD pair is trading at $3,520. The asset lost 7% in price, and the weekly dynamics of changes in quotes became negative (-11%). At the same time, ether is the only coin that has sufficient prerequisites for the resumption of growth. It is likely that the situation of a week ago will be repeated when ETH recovered earlier than others after the collapse of BTC and dragged the entire market with it.
A completely different dynamic is shown by the Ripple token, which managed to overcome the difficult psychological threshold of $1.4-$1.45. The cryptocurrency shows an excellent result and almost completely recouped the fall of yesterday. Judging by the charts, the token made a sharp jump on Saturday, which supported the market, and the asset continued to grow in smaller jumps. However, the collapse of bitcoin pushed the cryptocurrency to the level of $1,359, from where XRP resumed growth. As of 13:00 UTC, the crypto asset is quoted at $1.54 and continues to grow in price. The dynamics of changes in the value of the cryptocurrency over the past few hours have become extremely positive (+3.5%). The main reason for such rapid growth in altcoin quotes was another victory for Ripple in the courtroom. The company has gained access to documents that can prove that the regulator does not consider cryptocurrencies to be securities. This news not only contributes to the growth of the token quotes but also can inspire optimism in all market participants.
Litecoin indicators, like ETH, collapsed after the decline of bitcoin and the saturation of the crypto market with negative news. As of 13:00 UTC, LTC/USD quotes are quoted at $290, and the cryptocurrency itself has lost 8% in price. The dynamics of price changes for the week is -25.5%, which indicates the complete helplessness of the asset without the positive influence of external factors. The situation is different for altcoin ADA, which set a new all-time record at around $2.4. This allowed the cryptocurrency to climb to the 4th place in terms of capitalization with a result of $69.7 billion. However, the asset failed to overcome the negative of the market and dropped in price by 8% over the course of the day. As of 15:00 UTC, the coin is quoted at $2.18. The cryptocurrency has its own reason for negativity, because billionaire Mark Cuban condemned the coin, doubting the possibility of its practical application.
Despite the prevailing amount of negative news, the cryptocurrency market will begin to actively recover its positions in the next few days. The main driving force will be the XRP token, which gains investor confidence and allows the market to overcome the collapse caused by bitcoin. Ether will also begin to recover its positions, which will help weaker altcoins resume growth. However, it should be noted that such a scenario is possible with a more or less positive news background.