Investing.com – Ethereum held gains on Monday, shaking off a selloff in cryptocurrencies as rivals’ bitcoin and ripple fell sharply amid growing fears of a regulatory crackdown in the industry.
Ethereum, the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap, rose 4.71% to $1115.0 after notching an all-time high of $1,225 earlier in the session.
The ongoing support of ethereum comes amid expectations that a surge in initial coin offering (ICO) activity this month would boost demand for Ethereum’s ether as ICO issuers often request payment in ether.
Bitcoin’s Cracks Under Regulatory Pressure
Bitcoin, meanwhile, came under intense selling pressure amid fears of a regulatory crackdown in the cryptocurrency industry after reports suggested that China plans to limit power use by some bitcoin miners, while South Korea's financial regulator said it and other agencies are inspecting six local banks that offer digital currency accounts to institutions.
Bitcoin miners are users who help maintain the system by validating transactions stored in “blocks” on the network.
Using power-intensive hardware, Miners validate blocks by solving a complex “puzzle”. Every time a "puzzle" is solved, a reward of bitcoin is distributed to the "puzzle solver" or miner.
On the Bitfinex exchange, bitcoin fell to $14,842, down $1072, or 6.74%, after hitting an all-time high of $19,891 in December.
Ripple Takes a Breather, Bitcoin Cash Follows Bitcoin Lower
Elsewhere, Ripple (XRP) fell 9.86% to $2.4563 after reaching an all-time high of $3.28 last Thursday.
The fall in Ripple comes despite growing signs that RippleNet, the technology behind the cryptocurrency, continues to garner support from major financial institutional amid swirling rumors that Western Union could adopt the technology in 2018.
Bitcoin Cash, widely believed to be a “real” alternative to bitcoin as it boasts both faster and cheaper transactions, fell 5.91% to $2360, after surging above $4000 to a record high of $4,100 in December.