Altcoins post outsized drawdowns as macro pressures bite
Ethereum, XRP and Solana fell harder than Bitcoin over 24 hours as inflation data and rate-hike expectations weighed on crypto markets.
Why it matters: Altcoins are falling harder than Bitcoin as inflation data and rate-hike expectations tighten financial conditions, a pattern that shapes how crypto traders read risk.
Key points
- Ethereum dropped 5.5% to a $289bn market cap, XRP fell 5.1% to $82.4bn and Solana slipped 3.8% to $60.6bn, while Bitcoin lost 3.1%.
- Ethereum ETFs saw 11 straight days of net outflows totalling $782.8m before a brief Tuesday inflow, followed by $129.5m in net outflows.
Altcoins have posted outsized drawdowns as macro pressures pushed crypto prices lower, Decrypt reports. Ethereum, XRP and Solana all fell harder than Bitcoin over the past 24 hours, with the total crypto market cap down 2.5% to $2.8tn.
Ethereum dropped 5.5% to a $289bn market cap, XRP fell 5.1% to $82.4bn and Solana slipped 3.8% to $60.6bn. Bitcoin, the largest token, fell 3.1% on the day and 2.6% on the week, leaving it at a $1.6tn market cap.
Nick Forster of Derive.xyz said traders shifted into protection mode as hedging activity doubled, while Luke Nolan of CoinShares attributed the sharper altcoin losses to their sensitivity to financial conditions and a near 18-month high in the dollar.
Max Shannon of Bitwise Europe said the slide was also a hangover from altcoins' recent strength. Futures open interest in altcoins excluding Ethereum has fallen by $8bn since the start of October, and Ethereum ETFs saw 11 straight days of net outflows totalling $782.8m before a brief Tuesday inflow, followed by $129.5m in net outflows per CoinGlass.
What to watch: Nolan says a recovery depends on expectations of an October interest rate hike falling.
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How this was produced: an AI model wrote this summary of Decrypt’s report, which we credit and link above. Read our Editorial and AI policy. Spotted a mistake? See Corrections.
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