Crypto Traders Push Altcoin Market Below $900B Twice in 24 Hours as Panic Deepens
A crypto sell-off dragged the aggregate altcoin market capitalization below the $900 billion threshold twice within a 24-hour window, hitting brief lows of $872 billion. According to Coingecko data, the first breach occurred shortly after noon on Wednesday, when a market-wide rout temporarily reduced the total to $872 billion. The market cap rebounded past $950 billion by midnight but a second sell-off at 9 a.m. EST forced a retest of that low. The total has since stabilized around $900 billion.
The aggressive sell-off has raised concerns of a looming altcoin downturn. The crypto total market capitalization excluding Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins (TOTAL3ES) dropped to its lowest one-month relative strength index (RSI) reading ever, tying the lows seen during the FTX collapse. Analysts warn that any further decline would push the monthly RSI to a lower low with bearish confirmation, driving it toward oversold levels below 30 for the first time in history.
Ethereum (ETH) led the decline, plunging to a new year-to-date low of $1,531. ETH, whose market cap accounts for one-fifth of the aggregate altcoin market, fell nearly 3% during the period. Since June 1, when it traded just above $2,000, ETH has dropped 21%, pulling the total altcoin market cap down from $1.1 trillion to $900 billion.
Other major altcoins also suffered. BNB, the second-largest altcoin by market cap, fell 1.2%, while XRP logged a fresh year-to-date low of $1.01, down 2.5%. XLM and XMR posted declines of 4.4% and 4.7%, respectively. HYPE was a notable outlier, gaining 3.7% during the period, while LAB remained virtually unchanged at $18.21, despite being the only digital asset with double-digit gains over the past week.