Cryptocurrencies continued to this week's decline on Tuesday, with altcoins in near-freefall as bitcoin (BTC) slid further from the $100,000 level.
Among the worst-hit cryptos were XRP, Polkadot (DOT), Litecoin (LTC), Aptos (APT) and Cardano (ADA), down 15%-18% over the past 24 hours, extending Monday declines. The CoinDesk 20 — an index of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding memecoins, stablecoins and exchange coins — tumbled almost 10% Most cryptos in the index plunged by double-digit percentage amount at the minimum, though Ethereum's ether (ETH) and Solana's SOL fell just 8% and 9%, respectively.
Bitcoin, in comparison, held up relatively well compared to the rest of the market, dipping to $95,000 and down nearly 3% over the past 24 hours.
Cryptocurrencies had already plunged on Monday, triggering one of the largest leverage flushes in years liquidating over $1.5 billion of bullish derivatives positions. Tuesday's fall so far forced $450 million in liquidations across all digital assets, mostly bullish bets, CoinGlass data shows. Open interest for bitcoin futures remains at record high at almost $58 billion, though it has decreased 6.8% from Sunday.
This week's sell-off followed a month-long breakneck rally in crypto prices after Donald Trump's election victory in early November. Some altcoin majors doubled or more in price, while bitcoin crossed the $100,000 threshold for time ever.
Bitcoin's market cap dominance, which shows BTC's share of the total cryptocurrency market, spiked to 57.9% on Tuesday, its strongest reading since late November, underscoring the general risk-off move from altcoins towards BTC.
Bitcoin dominance (TradingView)
The market moves could be in anticipation of inflation data coming on Wednesday, according to Youholder Chief of Markets Ruslan Lienkha. "The market anticipates a slight uptick in inflation," he told CoinDesk in an email. "However, if CPI reveals figures higher than expected, it could intensify the ongoing correction across financial markets. In such a scenario, the timing and likelihood of Federal Reserve rate cuts will become a critical focus heading into the new year."
Stocks, though, haven't suffered the same way crypto has. After modest declines on Monday, the major U.S. average are flat today.
