The cryptocurrency market faced a sharp sell-off following the latest Federal Reserve meeting, where interest rates were held steady as expected, but Chairman Jerome Powell's hawkish commentary triggered a wave of risk aversion. This sent Bitcoin (BTC) tumbling below the $70,000 support level, while Ethereum (ETH) dropped to around $2,100. The broader market sentiment was captured by the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which plunged to a reading of 11, indicating "Extreme Fear" among investors.
Amidst the widespread decline, a handful of altcoins managed to post gains, outperforming both Bitcoin and the majority of the market. According to CoinMarketCap data, the top performers included Dexe (DEXE) up 13.05%, Quant (QNT) up 9.8%, River (RIVER) up 4.1%, Kaspa (KAS) up 3.9%, and JUST (JST) up 2.9%. Conversely, the biggest losers over the past 24 hours were led by Mantle (MNT), Worldcoin (WLD), Bittensor (TAO), Zcash (ZEC), and Render (RNDR), with losses ranging from 6.7% to 10.5%.
The risk-off environment heavily impacted major altcoins with large market capitalizations. XRP failed to hold above the psychologically significant $1.50 level, trading near $1.45. Shiba Inu (SHIB) remained entrenched around $0.00000582, nearly 42% below the $0.00001 threshold. Dogecoin (DOGE) hovered near $0.0937, with analysts eyeing $0.08 as a potential support zone if selling pressure continues. Total crypto market capitalization fell roughly 1.2%, with trading volume dropping more than 5%, underscoring the broad retreat in capital.
No single regulatory action or project-specific catalyst was identified for the downturn. The weakness appears to be a macro-driven pullback, with Powell's remarks amplifying existing market fears. The extreme fear reading suggests that even assets with strong narratives are struggling to attract fresh capital in the current environment.
