Bitcoin took a sharp downturn as crypto markets started the week in negative territory following its brief ascent past the $100,000 mark. BTC's 2% retreat from this milestone triggered widespread declines across major digital currencies. XRP, Dogecoin, and Solana suffered losses up to 5.5%, while BNB and Ether declined by 2.5%. Cardano’s ADA experienced the steepest fall, dropping 7%, exacerbated by a temporary security breach of the Cardano Foundation's account.
The substantial dip in the market triggered the liquidation of over $300 million in bullish positions. The CoinDesk 20 index, which measures the performance of the top tokens by market cap, reported a 3.6% downturn. Notably, mid-cap tokens fell by up to 10%.
This downturn resulted in significant liquidations in the futures market, especially in smaller altcoins and meme tokens, as evidenced by data from Coinglass. The largest recorded liquidation was a DOGE futures order worth $5.53 million on Binance.
In the midst of this market volatility, Singapore-based QCP Capital remains cautiously optimistic but anticipates a rangebound market until 2025. "Despite a fundamentally bullish outlook, we expect the spot market to stay within its current range for the rest of the holiday season," QCP conveyed via a Telegram update. They further noted that historically, Ether (ETH) tends not to reach new all-time highs until January following a halving year.
This sentiment is similarly reflected in options trading, where ETH risk assessments favor call options from January onward.
Nevertheless, BTC's struggle to hold above the $100,000 threshold is raising concerns about sustaining its upward trajectory. "Bitcoin's inability to consolidate above $100K might hinder buying momentum across the market," FxPro’s chief market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich cautioned in an email to CoinDesk. He remarked that Bitcoin is currently hovering just below $99,000 with negligible overnight changes, impacting altcoin performance.
"Bitcoin's stagnant phase represents a crucial opportunity for market correction," Kuptsikevich continued, "This could stabilize the market from being overly bought and pave the way for a more consistent upward move. Future positive momentum might even propel BTC prices toward the $120,000 mark, aligning with the Fibonacci extension," he predicted.