Wednesday, May 15 — most of the top 20 cryptocurrencies are reporting moderate gains on the day by press time, as bitcoin (BTC) has fallen below the $8,000 mark again.

Market visualization courtesy of Coin360

Market visualization courtesy of Coin360

Bitcoin is nearly a percent down on the day, trading at $7,975 at press time, according to CoinMarketCap. Looking at its weekly chart, the coin is up over 25.7%.

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

As Cointelegraph reported earlier today, the CEO of instant cryptocurrency exchange platform ShapeShift told Bloomberg that bubbles are an essential part of the industry’s growth.

Ether (ETH) is holding onto its position as the largest altcoin by market cap, which currently stands at $24.5 billion. The second-largest altcoin, XRP, has a market cap of $17.9 billion at press time.

CoinMarketCap data shows that ETH is up over 11% over the last 24 hours. At press time, ETH is trading around $231. On the week, the coin has also seen its value increase by over 26.8%.

Ether 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Ether 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin recently said that the Ethereum blockchain will become about 1,000 times more scalable in 18 to 24 months.

XRP is up over 5.6% over the last 24 hours and is currently trading at around $0.427. On the week, the coin is up over 29%.

XRP 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

XRP 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Among the top 20 cryptocurrencies, the ones reporting the most notable gains are tezos (XTZ), which is up nearly 22%, binance coin (BNB), which is up over 14.5%, tron (TRX) and ethereum classic (ETC), both up over 12%.

At press time, the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is $244.3 billion, nearly 24% higher than the value it reported a week ago.

Total market capitalization 24-hour chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

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 0.55% and the Nasdaq up 0.98% at press time. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), on the other hand, has lost a solid 6.26% on the day at press time.

Major oil futures and indexes are seeing mixed movements today, with WTI Crude up 0.19%, Brent Crude up 0.73% and Mars US up 1.56% at press time. The OPEC Basket is down 0.77% and the Canadian Crude Index has gained 0.51% by press time, according to OilPrices.