Cryptocurrency market update: All hell breaks lose as Bitcoin (BTC) dives under $10,000

• The cryptocurrency market's carnage takes another twist on Monday.
• Bitcoin and major altcoins are nursing double-digit losses.

The optimism vanished into thin air as Bitcoin (BTC) and all major altcoins have been under aggressive selling pressure for the last three days. Monday has started with another bearish wave that took the total capitalization of all digital assets in circulation to as low as $272 billion from $311 billion this time on Sunday. The figure dropped below $300 billion handle for the first time n recent two weeks. Bitcoin's market share increased to  65.9% as altcoins are doing even worse.

Top-4 coins price overview

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) is hovering around $10,000 handle after sliding to $9,843 during early Asian hours. The first digital coin has touched the lowest level since July 2 amid strong bearish pressure. A sustainable move below $10,000 handle will worsen the technical picture significantly and become a pre-condition for an extended sell-off.

Ethereum, the second largest digital asset with the current market capitalization of $23. billion is a big loser of the day. ETH has lost nearly 20% of its value in recent 24 hours and hit $202.86 low during early Asian hours. At the time of writing, ETH/USD is changing hands at $216.80, moving within a strong bearish trend on the short0term timeframes.

Ripple's XRP has lost 9.1% since this time on Sunday to trade at $0.3018 by the time of writing. The third largest digital asset with the current market capitalization of $12.8 billion pierced below $0.30 handle and touched an intraday low at $0.2945.

Litecoin (LTC/USD), now the fourth largest digital asset in the global cryptocurrency rating with the current market value of $5.5 billion. At the time of writing, LTC/USD is changing hands at $88.40, having recovered from the intraday low of $84.85 hit during early Asian hours. The coin has lost nearly 1% in recent 24 hours.