The cryptocurrency market experienced significant volatility, with the memecoin FARTCOIN dropping over 12% in the last 24 hours as it broke below a critical four-month support level. The decline occurred alongside a broader market downturn, with the total crypto market cap falling 4% and the memecoin sector slipping 2% despite a 31% rise in trading volume.
Technically, FARTCOIN had been trading sideways since October, with bulls defending a support level at $0.2145. However, in February, bears overpowered this defense, pushing the price below this key level and confirming a bearish trend continuation. The next major support is seen at the October low of $0.0933.
Derivative data reinforced the weakness. The Long/Short Accounts metric showed 54.25% of accounts positioned short versus 45.75% long. Analysis of liquidation leverage revealed bear dominance, with cumulative short liquidation leverage across all exchanges at about $4 million—more than four times the long leverage of $802,000. Most of this leveraged short positioning, particularly 50X and 25X orders, was concentrated around the $0.17 to $0.18 price range, with additional pressure at current levels near $0.15. The Hyperliquid (HYPE) exchange accounted for a significant portion, with cumulative short liquidation leverage of $58.28 million.
On-chain metrics indicated a loss of holder confidence. The number of FARTCOIN holders declined from a high of 160.95K to 160.86K and has remained flat in February, suggesting a lack of new investor interest.
The market volatility was not isolated to memecoins. Bitcoin tumbled more than 5% to $64,270 during Asia hours before rebounding to $66,300. This sell-off mirrored action in U.S. equity futures, which fell 0.84% before recovering. The moves were attributed to a flight to safety, fueled by geopolitical tensions and former U.S. President Donald Trump's comments on planned new global tariffs, which boosted gold futures.
Altcoins faced amplified losses due to low liquidity. Solana (SOL) and SUI tumbled between 7% and 8%, leading to $270 million in altcoin liquidations. Low liquidity also impacted tokens like PUMP (down 8.5%) and ZRO (down 16.5%). In derivatives markets, total crypto futures open interest remained below $100 billion for over two weeks, with $500 million in positions liquidated in 24 hours. Bitcoin's 30-day implied volatility (BVIV) jumped 9% to over 60%, and put options at $58,000, $60,000, and $62,000 saw heightened demand, indicating trader anxiety.
