Why Is Crypto Down Today? Market Loses $186 Billion in 24 Hours

The cryptocurrency market suffered a severe decline today, losing $186 billion within 24 hours. Bitcoin dipped slightly while altcoins saw even steeper losses, partly due to political tension and market conditions. Trading pressures from options expirations and profit-taking among large holders are also at play. Bitcoin’s dominance has risen slightly as investors rotate back to it amid the market turmoil.

The cryptocurrency market took a significant hit today, losing $186 billion in just 24 hours. The dip saw total market capitalisation reduce from $3.29 trillion to a current figure of $3.21 trillion, raising eyebrows on whether the anticipated bull run is facing serious challenges. Bitcoin is priced at $103,741 now, which marks a nearly 2% decrease, but that pales in comparison to the landslide in altcoin values, with losses hitting a staggering $80.4 billion just today.

Interestingly, Bitcoin Dominance—indicating the proportion of the total market cap that comes from Bitcoin—saw a bounce back from 63.66% yesterday to 64.33% today. This suggests that investors are increasingly rotating their investments back into Bitcoin, perhaps seeking stability amid the turmoil affecting altcoins.

Now, what’s behind today’s significant decline? Well, there are a few contributing factors. For one, President Trump took to Truth.Social to criticise China, claiming there were breaches in their trade agreement with the U.S. This rhetoric sparked renewed fears of a trade war between the two economic giants, pushing not just crypto, but various financial sectors, into a downward spiral.

Moreover, the market was already facing stress from a large options expiration event. Roughly $12.1 billion worth of Bitcoin options and around $2.13 billion in Ethereum options expired just yesterday, forcing traders to quickly adapt their portfolios. This kind of repositioning often leads to increased volatility in the market, which we’re seeing play out right now.

On top of that, despite the recent PCE inflation data being relatively positive, there are low expectations for a rate cut in the upcoming June 18 FOMC meeting. Investors remain on edge, as rising yields in the bond market are stoking fears that even debt investors are not betting on rate cuts happening anytime soon.

Profit-taking among big holders may also account for some of today’s selling. Bitcoin’s earlier strong performance has likely prompted traders to cash out after recent gains, a trend that could have been reinforced by the unsettling news regarding U.S.-China relations.

Altcoins are experiencing a far greater decline than Bitcoin. Major cryptocurrencies like Solana, Ethereum, and XRP have dropped around 6% in the last 24 hours, with projects such as Arbitrum (ARB) and Optimism (OP) facing losses exceeding 16%. Memecoins have also suffered; for example, Trump coin (TRUMP) fell over 11%, and Pepe saw a drop of 13%, while other assets like Floki Inu, DogWifHat, and Fartcoin had even steeper declines, sometimes reaching 20%.

In conclusion, the market’s downturn seems triggered by a mix of macroeconomic uncertainty, political friction, and traders opting to cash in gains after a robust streak. Looking ahead, there are several upcoming developments that might shift the current trend back in favour of the cryptocurrencies. Make sure to keep an eye on the news!

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