Cryptocurrency market update: Crypto bulls are in retreat towards the end of the week

• Bitcoin and major altcoins are range-bound with bearish bias after a short-lived recovery.
• We need a new catalyst to set the ball rolling.

The cryptocurrency market has slipped back into a red zone after a short-lived recovery. Bitcoin (BTC) returned to the area below $10,000, while all significant altcoins are nursing losses from 1.5% to 5%.

The total capitalization of all digital assets in circulation dropped to $269 billion from $278 billion this time on Thursday. The total trading volume slipped to $49 billion from $59 billion this time on Wednesday. Bitcoin's market share has reduced to 64.6%.

Read also: Survey says that Americans prefer Bitcoin over Facebook's Libra

Top-4 coins price overview

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) touched the intraday low at $9,657 before recovering above $9,700 by the time of writing. Despite the recovery, the upside momentum remains weak. Bears retain control over the market as long as BTC/USD stays below critical $10,000. BTC/USD has lost over 3.5% on a day-on-day basis and 1/5% since the beginning of Friday.

Ethereum, the second-largest digital asset with the current market capitalization of $23 billion, has lost nearly 3% on a day-on-day basis and 2% since the start of the Asian session on Friday. ETH/USD is hovering above $214, off the intraday high registered at $219.50. 

Ripple's XRP stays above $0.3100 amid low market activity. Ripple's current market capitalization is registered at $13.3 billion, while an average daily trading volume has decreased below $1 billion. The coin has lost over 2% on a day-on-day basis and stayed unchanged since the beginning of Friday.

Litecoin (LTC/USD) dropped as low as $90.30 during early Asian hours on Friday and recovered above $91.00 by the time of writing. The fourth-largest coin with the current market capitalization of $5.7 billion, has lost 3.5% on a day-on-day basis.

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