The cryptocurrency market suffered a sharp sell-off this week, with Bitcoin plunging to a monthly low of $74,200 early Saturday. The top cryptocurrency had been rejected at $78,000 earlier in the week, and the slide accelerated into the weekend, wiping out over $100 billion in total market capitalization. Ethereum fell to $2,000 before a slight recovery to $2,025, while BNB dropped to $640, XRP struggled near $1.30, and Solana lost over 6% to trade around $84.
The downturn triggered a cascade of liquidations on futures markets, with nearly $917 million in positions wiped out in 24 hours. Bitcoin accounted for $371 million of those liquidations, while Ethereum saw $261 million. Long positions dominated the carnage, representing $827 million of the total.
Behind the sell-off was a perfect storm of bearish factors. Bitcoin ETFs recorded six consecutive days of outflows, shedding more than $1.25 billion over the week, according to Farside Investors. Rising U.S. Treasury yields further dampened risk appetite, a dynamic that Yellow Capital CEO Diego Martin described as an institutional shift: "Geopolitical shocks no longer hit crypto directly the way they once did. They hit Treasury yields, which hit risk appetite, which hits ETF flows, which hit Bitcoin."
The market briefly rallied at the end of the previous week on progress around the CLARITY Act, pushing Bitcoin to $82,000, but the move proved short-lived. Bitcoin's market cap has now fallen below $1.5 trillion, and its dominance over altcoins has edged down to 58%.
