Cryptocurrency Market Suffers $500 Billion Loss: Bitcoin Drops Below $50,000 and Altcoins Plummet
Fiona Nanna, ForeMedia News
5 minutes read. Updated 11:41AM GMT Tues, 6August, 2024
he global cryptocurrency market has experienced a significant downturn over the past few days, witnessing a staggering decline of over $500 billion since Friday. This sharp drop has caused the total crypto market capitalization to fall below $2 trillion for the first time in six months.
Bitcoin’s Plunge
Just a week ago, Bitcoin (BTC) was riding high, achieving a multi-week peak of $70,000. However, this momentum was short-lived. The cryptocurrency, which had been trading at $66,000 last Monday, began a steep decline mid-week. By Friday, amid mounting economic uncertainty and a bearish trend affecting global financial markets, Bitcoin’s value started to drop rapidly.
The downward trend accelerated over the weekend, with Bitcoin falling below $60,000 on Sunday morning. The decline continued throughout the day, culminating in a drop to $57,000. The situation worsened on Monday morning, with Bitcoin plummeting to just under $50,000, its lowest price since mid-February. This dramatic fall resulted in liquidations exceeding $1 billion and impacted nearly 300,000 traders.
Although Bitcoin has since recovered slightly to around $53,000, it remains 12% down for the day and 24% over the past week. Its market cap has shrunk to $1.050 trillion, with its dominance in the crypto market increasing to 53.7%.
Altcoins Suffer Severe Losses
The situation for alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) has been even more severe. The market for altcoins resembles a grim landscape, with many experiencing double-digit losses. Speculations surrounding Jump Crypto’s liquidation of its Ethereum (ETH) positions have contributed to ETH’s price plummeting by 20%, now trading just above $2,300.
Other prominent altcoins, including Binance Coin (BNB), Solana (SOL), Ripple (XRP), Dogecoin (DOGE), Toncoin (TON), Avalanche (AVAX), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Chainlink (LINK), have also faced significant declines.
The losses over the past week have been particularly devastating for some altcoins. WIF has lost 52% of its value, BRETT has dropped by 48%, AR is down 45%, and PEPE has decreased by 44%, among other severe losses.
Overall, the cumulative market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies has decreased by $500 billion since Friday, marking a critical point as the total market cap falls below $2 trillion for the first time in six months.
For further updates and analysis on the cryptocurrency market, visit Market Watch and follow the latest developments on CoinDesk.
