Crypto Today: Bitcoin edges lower toward $15K, Ripple surges above $1

• Bitcoin losses pile up as profit-taking continues.
• Ripple pierces through $1 on Coinbase rumors.
• Total market cap eases below $600 billion.

The BTC/USD pair remained under pressure on Thursday and is looking to record its fourth straight negative daily close as investors continue to book their profits following last weekend's record-setting rally. According to the latest available data on coinmarketcap.com, the BTC/USD pair was trading at $15,635.70, losing 7.46% on the day.

Meanwhile, Ripple, which grabbed a lot of attention last week after doubling its price in a single day from 40 cents to 80 cents, came under the spotlight once again on Thursday. The market chatter of Coinbase, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world with more than 13 million live accounts, planning to include Ripple in its platform triggered a buying wave and lifted the XRP/USD pair to a fresh all-time high at $1.24. As of writing, the pair was trading at $1.16, adding 48.32% on the day.

Analyzing Ripple's price action of the day, "looking at CoinMarketCap data, XRP has seen trading volumes increase over the last 24 hours by nearly 25 percent at major South Korean exchange Bithumb, while Hong Kong-based Bitfinex has seen volumes rise over 10 percent," coindesk.com author Daniel Palmer wrote. 

The total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies on Thursday eased below the $600 billion mark as the trading volume started to thin out ahead of holidays. After yesterday's controversial sharp upsurge, bitcoin cash lost nearly 17% on the day, and its market dominance dropped below 10%. Ripple's market cap skyrocketed to $44 billion from $30 billion in the last 24 hours.