The cryptocurrency market staged a significant rebound on January 12 after a bearish week that saw Bitcoin drop to a low of US$750 per BTC. By press time, Bitcoin had recovered to above $800, with altcoins following suit as market sentiment shifted positively.
Bitcoin Price Action
Bitcoin had previously climbed to $1,145 before the downturn, which many attributed to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) inspections of local exchanges. The inspections caused speculation and a sharp price decline, with Bitcoin briefly holding above $900 prior to the drop. Currently, the inspections remain ongoing, and China's top three exchanges—Huobi, OKCoin, and BTCC—have adjusted their margin lending policies. BTCC and Huobi have ceased offering margin loans entirely, while others have significantly reduced borrowing limits. Many community members welcomed these changes, believing they will lead to more accurate trading volume data from China.
Altcoin Market Trends
Among altcoins, Ethereum (ETH) rose 3.2% to $9.70, maintaining its position as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Ripple (XRP) remained stable at $0.0064 with low volatility, showing little correlation with other markets over the past two weeks. Litecoin (LTC) held the fourth spot with a market cap near $200 million, trading at $3.80 and following Bitcoin's trajectory. Market attention is on Litecoin's upcoming Segregated Witness (SegWit) implementation, with signaling set to begin on January 28.
Privacy-focused Monero (XMR) stayed strong at $11.50, while Ethereum Classic (ETC) maintained the sixth position at $1.20. Dash (DASH), Augur (REP), and MaidSafeCoin (MAID) saw notable gains in the past 24 hours. Steem dropped out of the top ten.
Volume and Recovery Across the Board
Trading volumes have been robust, with Bitcoin leading. Dash, Litecoin, and Monero also posted volume increases. Notably, anonymous cryptocurrency Zcoin surged over 81% in 24 hours. Traders appear to have found price floors, with buying picking up and long positions being opened. At press time, Bitcoin averaged $830 across global exchanges and was trending upward.