Investors hoping for an Altcoin Season may be feeling disappointed on Thursday as major alternative cryptocurrencies extended losses.
A staggering 91 of the top 100 crypto assets have retreated in the past 24 hours through 07:00 UTC with more than 60 dropping by 10% or more.
XRP, SOL, ETH plunge
XRP was one of the main decliners, plunging after hitting a new all-time high on 18 July. The digital currency created by Ripple has shed more than 12% this week alone. Solana (SOL) suffered a similarly sized drop following its five-month peak on Tuesday.
Among the major coins Ether (ETH) also posted significant losses, sliding sharply in the early hours of Thursday as traders took profits after four weeks of stellar gains.
Analysts and data providers pointed to a large volume of Ether sell orders and significant open interest in Solana futures as possible drivers behind the sudden bout of fear in the market. The liquidation data tells a stark story: exchanges have recorded $843 million worth of liquidations of long positions in the past 24 hours, with Ether and XRP bearing the brunt, according to figures compiled by Coinglass.
Bitcoin more dominant
Bitcoin proved more resilient, continuing to trade within a range of between $117,000-$120,000 over the past two weeks. This relative strength has boosted Bitcoin Dominance – a metric measuring Bitcoin’s share of total crypto market value – to 61.4% from below 60% just two days ago.
The altcoin decline may reflect a classic case of profit-taking after exceptional short-term gains. The sell-off has effectively halted any momentum towards another Alt Season – for the time being – with the CMC Altcoin Season Index dropping sharply from 55 (/100) to 31 this week. The index measures how altcoins perform relative to Bitcoin over a 90-day period, with higher scores indicating altcoin outperformance.
Pump.fun lawsuit
Among smaller tokens, pump.fun plummeted 45%, slashing its market capitalization to a little over $1 billion. The memecoin launchpad and trading platform, along with its infrastructure partners, faces legal headwinds after a class-action lawsuit filed on Wednesday named it among accusations of unlicensed gambling operations.
Market participants now await the key central bank decisions that could influence crypto sentiment. The European Central Bank announces its latest interest rate decision on Thursday while the US Federal Reserve follows next week. Although rates are expected to remain unchanged in both regions, traders will be monitoring the content and tone of the related communications for clues about the macroeconomic outlook. That may influence whether and when the dip in the crypto market can be resolved.
