Crypto Market Plummets: Bitcoin and Ethereum Lead Downturn

The crypto market cap fell to $2.07 trillion as Bitcoin dropped below $60,000, triggering $622 million in liquidations amid extreme fear.

A broad market decline has swept through both leading digital assets and high-risk altcoins, deepening cautious sentiment among investors.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization has retreated to approximately $2.07 trillion. Sentiment has soured significantly, with the Fear and Greed Index crashing to 17 points, signaling a state of “extreme fear” among market participants. Meanwhile, the Altcoin Season Index remains at 47 out of 100, indicating that capital remains concentrated in highly liquid assets rather than shifting toward riskier tokens.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Lead the Sell-Off

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $59,700, marking a decline of over 4% in the last 24 hours and a nearly 9.4% drop over the past week. The market capitalization of the flagship digital asset has fallen by 4% to $1.19 trillion.

Ethereum has similarly struggled, dropping 4.4% within the day to a price of $1,584. Its weekly losses have now exceeded 10%.

Selling pressure extended across other major cryptocurrencies. XRP retreated by nearly 4%, Solana lost over 3.5%, and Dogecoin saw a decline of almost 6%.

Among more volatile assets, Hyperliquid plummeted by over 21% in a week, while Zcash recorded a drop of nearly 20%.

The sell-off is occurring against a backdrop of intensified concerns regarding market liquidity, persistent pressure from high U.S. interest rates, and a diminishing appetite for risk among institutional investors.

Liquidations Hammer Long Positions

Data from Coinglass shows that liquidations have been almost entirely dominated by long positions. Over the last 24 hours, $622 million was liquidated, with long positions accounting for approximately $554 million of that total.

Bitcoin recorded the highest liquidation volume at over $86 million, followed by Ethereum with roughly $49 million. Solana contributed nearly $13 million, while other altcoins faced combined losses totaling tens of millions of dollars.

Market data indicates that over 137,000 traders were forcibly liquidated in the past day. The largest single liquidation occurred on Binance, exceeding $12 million.

The sharp spike in liquidations highlights the heavy use of leverage in recent weeks. Analysts suggest that while such events often lead to a short-term market flush, they simultaneously increase volatility and the risk of further declines.

Although technical indicators are now signaling oversold conditions, investors remain wary. The market continues to closely monitor signals from the Federal Reserve, the movement of the U.S. dollar, and capital flows into crypto ETF products, all of which are expected to dictate the direction of digital assets in the coming weeks.