Thursday, May 16 — most of the top 20 cryptocurrencies are reporting moderate gains on the day by press time, as bitcoin (BTC) has fallen below the $7.900 mark again.

Market visualization courtesy of Coin360

Bitcoin is over 1.5% down on the day, trading at $7,899 at press time, according to CoinMarketCap. Looking at its weekly chart, the coin is up nearly 23%.

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

As Cointelegraph reported yesterday, new data suggests that bitcoin's growth is explained by its maturation as an asset based on conversations surrounding the leading cryptocurrency.

Ether (ETH) is holding onto its position as the largest altcoin by market cap, which currently stands at $26.6 billion. The second-largest altcoin, XRP, has a market cap of $17.4 billion at press time.

CoinMarketCap data shows that ETH is up over 8% over the last 24 hours. At press time, ETH is trading around $251. On the week, the coin has also seen its value increase by over 32%.

Ether 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

XRP is down over 3.5% over the last 24 hours and is currently trading at around $0.415. On the week, the coin is up over 27.7%.

XRP 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Ripples’ director of regulatory relations, Ryan Zagone, stated earlier this week that technology needs to be a national issue for the United States, with digital currencies and blockchain to be recognized within that goal.

Among the top 20 cryptocurrencies, the ones reporting the most notable gains are nem (XEM), which is up nearly 27%, and stellar (XLM), which is up nearly 15%.

At press time, the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is $246.3 billion, over 23.5% higher than the value it reported a week ago.

Total market capitalization 24-hour chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

In traditional markets, the United States stock market is seeing discrete gains so far today, with the S&P 500 up 0.58% and the Nasdaq up 1.13% at press time. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), on the other hand, has lost a solid 3.16% on the day at press time.

Major oil futures and indexes are seeing mixed movements today, with WTI Crude up 1.19%, Brent Crude up 0.93% and Mars US up 0.35% at press time. The OPEC Basket is down 0.77% and the Canadian Crude Index has no value change by press time, according to OilPrices.