Major altcoins, including Ethereum and XRP, have taken a step back following a week of strong upward momentum. The broader crypto market is flashing red today as top assets face significant resistance after their recent surge.
Data from Crypto Finders/em> shows that most of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization are trading lower. Ethereum dropped by 2%, while XRP led losses with a sharp 10% decline. Other altcoins such as BNB, Solana, Cardano, Dogecoin, and Tron each recorded losses of over 4%.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin stood out as a rare gainer, posting a modest 0.26% increase. Stablecoin-linked tokens like USDT and USDC remained steady and unaffected by the market downturn.
Vincent Liu, Kronos Research’s Chief Investment Officer, told Crypto Finders/em> that the market pullback was caused by the unwinding of leveraged long positions, which triggered a cascade of liquidations.
He added:
“[The market’s] thinning liquidity, shallow order books, and sharp volatility are amplifying the downside pressure.”
As a result, the total altcoin market capitalization fell below $1.5 trillion for the first time in a week, according to CoinMarketCap data. Meanwhile, the Altcoin Index dropped to 34, its lowest reading in several weeks, highlighting a broader market cooldown.
Still, sentiment among traders remains largely optimistic. Data from Coinalyze shows that more than 70% of traders in the top 10 altcoin markets maintain long positions, signaling ongoing belief in a potential rebound.
Valentin Fournier, Lead Research Analyst at BRN, said:
“Despite near-term weakness, the underlying structure remains bullish. Corporate demand continues to increase, and the reduced FTX repayment burden eases one of the market’s key downside risks.”
$976 million in crypto liquidations
The sharp market correction triggered a significant wave of liquidations. CoinGlass reports that over $976 million in positions were liquidated, affecting more than 316,000 traders.
Long traders, those betting on price increases, bore the brunt of the damage, losing $840 million. Short positions accounted for the remaining $135 million in losses.
Ethereum traders were hit the hardest, with liquidations totaling around $200 million. XRP followed with $115 million in losses. Other altcoin traders collectively saw $177 million wiped out.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin traders faced comparatively modest losses of $84 million.
The largest single liquidation event occurred on Binance, involving a $2.96 million long position on the BTC/USDC pair.
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