Cryptocurrency markets are crashing. Bitcoins price has fallen by about 20% in the last seven days, wiping out $7 billion of market value. But its doing better than other major cryptocurrencies like ether and ripple, which have lost 30% or more.

Bitcoins relative resilience in the current crash bolsters its status as the reserve currency of the cryptocurrency markets. Some $29.5 billion worth of bitcoin has been traded on global exchanges in the last month, compared to $26.3 billion worth of ethereum, according to data site Coin Marketcap. Not all traders are cashing out of ether into bitcoin, of course, the ether-Korean won currency pair is among the most actively traded in the last 24 hours, Coin Marketcaps data shows.

One indicator of bitcoins health relative to other cryptocurrencies is the so-called Bitcoin Dominance Index maintained by Coin Marketcap. It shows the total value of all bitcoin in circulation as a proportion of the value of all cryptocurrencies in circulation. As cryptos in general rallied this year, bitcoins dominance has fallen. But as markets have corrected in recent weeks, bitcoins dominance rose.

Bitcoin is still more than twice as valuable as ethereum, and about six times as valuable as Ripple. That gap could grow if the cryptomarket correction continues.

Read next: The strange mix of reasons why bitcoin has soared to all-time records

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Cryptocurrencies are crashing, but bitcoin isn't falling as badly as the rest - Quartz

The price of the digital currency bitcoin fell over the weekend, dropping below $2,000 and farther away from its June highs, part of a broad selloff in dozens of cryptocurrencies, including ether.

Bitcoin on Sunday traded as low as $1,836, according to news and research site CoinDesk, down about 8% on the day, and almost 40% from its high of $3,018 on June 11. Meanwhile, ether, the currency used on the Ethereum network, traded as low as $155 on Sunday, down about 60% from its high of $395 on June 13.

Prices were lower across the board on Sunday, most notably for the tokens created via the so-called initial coin offering, or ICO, process.

The selloffs are yet another stark reminder that for all the potential and promise in these new kinds of digital assets, they remain highly speculative trading vehicles. The markets around them are still relatively immature and illiquid, resulting in extremely volatile trading.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

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Bitcoin slides below $2000 as cryptocurrency selloff continues - MarketWatch

No one can say there is such a thing as a boring day in the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. After the onslaught of price declines throughout the weekend, we kick off this Monday on a positive note. All currencies are seemingly recovering their losses. The Bitcoin price surpassed US$2,000 again, but it looks like Ethereum is the winner of the day so far. Other currencies all doing quite well too, for now.

Even though we are not a big fan of the term dead cat bounce, it accurately describes what is going on in the cryptocurrency world right now, by the look of things. The markets are showing signs of positive momentum, but there is no reason to get overly excited just yet. After all, the gains made today can easily be wiped out in an hour or two of bearish trading. This is especially true for the currencies showing large gains compared to yesterday.

Taking a closer look at the charts, we can see there is only one coin in the top 50 without a green number next to it right now. Overall, that is a positive sign for cryptocurrency as a whole. At the same time, people have to keep in mind these positive changes are a direct result of the Bitcoin price going up slowly. Should Bitcoin drop in value again, these short-term gains for all altcoins will be wiped out pretty quickly.

While it is good to see the Bitcoin price bounce back to above US$2,000, maintaining that position will be quite challenging. There is a lot of negative pressure on the market, which may push the price back to to the US$1,900 range in the coming hours. Such a retrace will effectively prove to be a tough time for any altcoin struggling as of late, including the likes of Ethereum and Dash.

Speaking of those two particular altcoins, Dash has seen its value climb by 13.52% over the past 24 hours. This is despite a trading volume of under US$50m, mind you. Ethereum, on the other hand, notes an 18.02% gain over the past 24 hours, thanks to a trading volume which even surpasses Bitcoins. Many people still hope to see ETH return to US$400, but for now, it is a struggle to remain above US$160.

Seeing the Ethereum trading volume surpass Bitcoins is not entirely surprising. Korea and China are trying to push the ETH price back up, yet their efforts are not wildly successful so far. In fact, the price on Bithumb denominated in US Dollars- is below the ETH/BTC price on Poloniex when converting it to USD. That is somewhat surprising, considering Korean exchanges often depict higher values for cryptocurrencies compared to Western markets.

It is still too early to tell if the cryptocurrency markets are effectively recovering. For all we know, this is just a temporary blip on the radar, which will be nullified before the day is over. It seems plausible to assume Bitcoin will have a tough time remaining above US$2,000 for an extended period of time. The markets remain volatile for quite some time to come, but there is always sunshine beyond the dip. No one needs to panic right now, as things will be alright in the end.

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Are Cryptocurrencies Recovering or is This a Dead cat Bounce? - The Merkle

Digital currencies like the bitcoin were once the preserve of programmers, geeks and digitally-savvy traders but they have made it to the mainstream, grabbing headlines for their soaring prices, flash crashes and more.

The numbers around these currencies can be baffling to most of us. Take a Bloomberg report last week about a cryptocurrency trader - who is known only by a string of numbers - whose US$55 million (S$75 million) on paper in the digi-currency ethereum became US$283 million in just over a month, a 413 per cent profit.

Wild swings like this are - and will be - the norm for cryptocurrencies, say experts, so anyone investing in them is in for a rocky ride.

But that in turn will attract risk-takers, so it is best to get a handle on just what this quirky corner of the finance world is all about.

"Cryptocurrency is a form of digital currency that uses cryptography to allow for the peer-to-peer exchange of value, without a third party such as a bank or a remittance company," notes Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) Professor David Lee, whose areas of interest include digital currency and blockchain technology.

ST ILLUSTRATION: JASTER NGUI

He notes that Satoshi Nakamoto - either an actual programmer or a group of them using the name - invented the bitcoin so people can transfer value or currency among peers who do not necessarily trust one another, using a public ledger that is transparent to everyone.

The Financial Times explains: "When people invest in the bitcoin, the money is going into the underlying technology - known as blockchain - not the payment instrument itself."

It refers to the blockchain as "essentially a giant record book of all bitcoin transactions; it is to the bitcoin what the Internet is to e-mail".

And it is described as a decentralised network where every bitcoin transfer is verified, processed and written down, and comes with potential "to make economic interactions cheaper, faster and more secure".

INVESTING IN UNDERLYING TECH

When people invest in the bitcoin, the money is going into the underlying technology - known as blockchain - not the payment instrument itself.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES, saying the blockchain is "essentially a giant record book of all bitcoin transactions".

ASTRONOMICAL RETURNS

To put things into perspective, an investor who had invested just US$1,000 back in 2010 could have cashed out nearly US$51 million today.

MR SACHIN MITTAL, head of telecom, media and technology research at DBS Group Research, on the bitcoin, the most famous, valuable and oldest cryptocurrency.

Mr Sachin Mittal, head of telecom, media and technology research at DBS Group Research, says the bitcoin is the most famous, valuable and oldest cryptocurrency, although there are around 800 others.

Mr Yusho Liu, co-founder of CoinHako, which helps people buy and sell cryptocurrencies, notes that almost 48 per cent of the global cryptocurrency value is held in bitcoin while ethereum holds about 40 per cent of the market share.

Cryptocurrencies have come under the spotlight, with huge gains made by the bitcoin and ethereum, notes Mr Mittal.

The value of the bitcoin shot up about 155 per cent within the first six months of this year. A bitcoin was worth US$2,539 on July 10 this year, compared with five US cents in July 2010. "To put things into perspective, an investor who had invested just US$1,000 back in 2010 could have cashed out nearly US$51 million today," notes Mr Mittal.

Ethereum has risen 2,775 per cent, from US$8.39 to US$241 since the start of this year.

Many argue that the bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value and may be a perfect vehicle for forming a bubble, Prof Lee adds.

"To put it into perspective, with a US$40 billion market capitalisation for the bitcoin and US$100 billion for total cryptocurrency, this investible class is minute, compared with US$66.8 trillion for listed equity and US$48.2 trillion for gold."

However, he stresses: "Cryptocurrency is a very complex investment instrument. I would not advise anyone who has no knowledge of cryptocurrency to get involved at all.

"To start off, there are a lot of videos, books and papers written about the subject. One may also join Access - the Singapore Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Industry Association - to attend its talks and programmes to learn about cryptocurrency and the blockchain industry."

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Cryptocurrency 101: Digital currencies soar in value, but subject to ... - The Straits Times

Albania's central bank calling on potential investors to avoid buying digital currencies, according to a new report.

According to the English-language weekly Tirana Times, the central bank stated that it hasn't issued any licensure to businesses brokering or exchanging digital currencies in Albania.

"As a result, every company that is involved in these operations in the Republic of Albania is not licensed and its activity does not comply with the regulatory and supervisory framework of the Bank of Albania, the bank reportedly said.

It's a missive that largely echoes those issued by other central banks in the past several years. In some of those cases, investors were warned to avoid specific digital currencies, including bitcoin or Onecoin, the latter of which has earned the particular ire of central banks and regulators worldwide.

As with officials at institutions like the Central Bank of Armenia, Albania's central bank suggested that investors avoid buying digital currencies, pointing to more regulated products instead.

"One should orient investments toward financial products and instruments offered by institutions licensed and supervised by the Bank of Albania and the Financial Supervisory Authority, the message stated.

It's unclear at this time which businesses in Albania would be effected should the central bank move to enforce its stance more concretely, though LocalBitcoins lists a handful of traders in cities including Tirana and Elbasan.

Albania map image via Shutterstock

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Albanian Central Bank Issues Warning to Cryptocurrency Investors - CoinDesk