Litecoin Surpasses 2 Million Addresses Amid Price Decline - Crypto Market Update

There are now over 2 million Litecoin addresses, which shows just how popular the cryptocurrency is becoming.

However, the news didn't help Litecoin prices, which dropped 11.89% today.

In other news, Bitcoin prices dropped more than 7.5% and slipped below $14,300. The downturn came after South Korean financial regulators introduced a new slate of rules surrounding the cryptocurrency industry.

The so-called "crackdown" on the cryptocurrency industry featured a warning that South Korea may shut down exchanges if traders and exchange operators fail to comply with new regulations.

The downturn also coincided with remarks from Allianz SE and former Pimco CEO Mohamed El-Erian.

The economist said that Bitcoin's price decline comes at a precipitous time for the cryptocurrency. Following Bitcoin's 45% plunge on Dec. 22, institutional investors have largely sat out, even though prices have rebounded.

El-Erian suggests that the lack of institutional interest could affect the price of the asset to the downside.

"Either this sharp price correction will act as a catalyst for expanding what, until now, has been quite limited institutional involvement in this market - or it will become a stage in the deflation of a remarkable and historic asset bubble," he said in column at Bloomberg View.

Below is a recap of the top cryptocurrency prices at 2:00 p.m. EST...

• Bitcoin: $14,260.40, -7.56%
• Ethereum: $725.61, -3.63%
• Ripple: $1.46, +9.37%
• Bitcoin Cash: $2,522.68, -10.70%
• Litecoin: $239.30, -11.89%

Now that we know all of today's price movements, here's what has been moving these cryptocurrencies...

Cryptocurrency Markets Today

On Thursday, the market capitalization of the global cryptocurrency sector hit $554.73 billion.

Bitcoin now comprises 43.1% of the global cryptocurrency market. The world's largest cryptocurrency has been in retreat thanks to a large surge in interest in alternative coins.

Must Read: In 2018, This Will Be Better Than Bitcoin

Top performers from the largest 50 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization included Byteball Bytes (up 16.98%), RailBlocks (up 15.94%), Ripple (up 9.37%), ICON (up 7.31%), SALT (up 4.31%), Stratis (up 3.35%), and Ardor (up 3.27%).

The worst performers from the top 50 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization included NXT (down -50.34%), Verge (down -21.40%), Hshare (down -20.09%), Bytecoin (down -14.47%), VeChain (down -12.77%), and Steem (down -12.74%).

Ripple Roars to Record High

Ripple continues to roar to new highs.

The cryptocurrency topped $51 billion in market capitalization to firmly entrench itself as the third-largest coin available.

Prices have been surging in recent weeks on news that South Korean and Japanese financial institutions are testing Ripple's technology to enable cross-border transactions.

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