The price of XRP slid below $0.43 on Friday, hitting a new low for 2018.

The world's third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization fell to $0.424 at 13:00 UTC, surpassing the prior low of $0.438 seen just five days ago on the Bitfinex exchange. XRP has not recorded a daily close below $0.42 since December 12th, 2017.

As of press time, the figure has risen above the low, back to averaging a price of $0.43. Current prices reflect a 24-hour drop of 3.5 percent and a 14 percent decline week-to-week.

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Market bears will look to strengthen their grip if the current level of $0.43 cannot hold as XRP is not accompanied by any neighboring technical support. The strongest layer of support may not be seen until $0.19.

XRP is not the lone cryptocurrency to set an annual low today, however, as it is joined by the likes of OmiseGo (OMG), neo (NEO), litecoin (LTC), and zcash. The largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin (BTC), came just $14 shy of breaking its annual low of $5,786 earlier this morning, CoinDesk data further indicates.

Consequently, the broader market is taking a beating. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization has hit $232 billion - its lowest mark since November of 2017 and a 72 percent depreciation from all-time high just under $830 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

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