Price Watch: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin Begin to Stabilize

At press time, entities like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin all experienced small, yet noticeable hikes in their prices, while others, such as Bitcoin Cash, are showing even more noticeable gains over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin is sitting just beyond $8,362 - roughly $262 higher than where it was during our previous price article.

New reports about Bitcoin mining have emerged, and suggest that global operations for extracting new coins now require as much electricity as the entire nation of Ireland.

The Emerald Isle's population is considerably larger than that of Iceland, which a few months ago, was identified as the first country to outdo itself via Bitcoin mining.

Its newfound status with Ireland's electricity use shows just how powerful, and even common, Bitcoin mining has become.

Bitcoin mining may use as much energy as Austria by the end of 2018.

The number of gigawatts necessary to power all of Austria is roughly 8.2, suggesting Bitcoin mining energy may possibly double by the time 2019 rolls along.

Ethereum is up almost $40 since our previous price piece when it was trading for approximately $677. At press time, the currency's price has jumped to $714. Ethereum has been garnering newfound publicity ever since China - a nation known for being hostile towards cryptocurrencies - labeled it as the number one digital asset according to a new coin index.

Bitcoin Cash is the only major cryptocurrency that's still soaking in the red.

Litecoin is presently trading for about $137. That's five dollars higher than where it stood during our previous price discussion.