Ether (ETH) continued its multi-day slide on Thursday with a 7% drop in the past 24 hours as the prolonged crypto sell-off showed no signs of a pause.
Bitcoin (BTC) was trading between $89,000 to $82,500 in U.S. trading hours on Wednesday, staging a slight recovery in early Asian hours to just over $86,000. The broader market tracked by CoinDesk 20 (CD20), a liquid index tracking the largest tokens, fell over 3%.
Major tokens XRP, BNB Chain’s BNB, Cardano’s ADA and dogecoin (DOGE) slumped as much as 4% — with bullish bets on futures tracking majors recording over $600 million in liquidations.
Litecoin’s LTC and Aptos’ APT were among the few tokens in green, rising over 10% each. APT rose as a “BITWISE APTOS ETF” was registered in Delaware, USA, in addition to rumors of a Litecoin ETF. However, traders remain muted on prospects of a prolonged rally in LTC.
“Its unlikely that institutional investors would have long-term conviction in the Bitcoin clone, as it offers no yield, utility, or organic demand outside of ETF approval speculation,” Ben Yorke, WOO VP of Ecosystem, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message.
“Would likely be a ‘sell the news’ event, as investors would look to rotate into more topical trends and future ETF rumors,” Yorke added.
Losses in crypto markets mirrored those in U.S. equities after lesser-than-expected earnings from technology stalwart Nvidia failed to wow investors.
Separately, a New York Fed research indicated President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs on imports from China impact the American economy higher than expected — with data showing an apparent discrepancy in U.S. imports from China based on reported figures from both countries.
Market watchers await macroeconomic cues for a bitcoin rally, meanwhile.
“The Fed is not a player at this juncture as rate cuts are likely to be muted against sticky inflation, while the aggressive US administration will continue to put geopolitical tensions at the forefront,” Chris Yu, Co-Founder and CEO of SignalPlus, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message.
“Crypto-friendly policies and frameworks will likely take some time before they materialize into tangible frameworks, while a fall in implied BTC volatility with falling prices is a negative sign that speculators have started to throw in the towel on higher prices in the near term,” Yu added.