The global cryptocurrency market has slid deeper into correction territory, wiping out nearly $500 billion in value over the past week and extending cumulative losses to roughly $1.7 trillion since the October peak.
Total market capitalisation has fallen to about $2.42 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap data, underscoring the scale of the ongoing sell-off across digital assets.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, has declined about 20 per cent over the past week, including a sharp 7-8 per cent fall in a single session. It was trading around $70,122 on Thursday — one of its weakest levels in more than a year.
The token is now more than 40 per cent below its October record high of over $127,000, marking a dramatic reversal from the euphoric rally that had pushed it into six-figure territory.
Ethereum tracked the weakness, sliding nearly 8 per cent in the past 24 hours to hover near $2,091. Among major altcoins, BNB, XRP, Solana, Tron, Dogecoin and Cardano fell more than 6 per cent, with several tokens logging weekly losses exceeding 20 per cent.
Unlike earlier crypto downturns driven largely by internal market stresses, the latest leg of the decline appears rooted in a broader global risk-off shift.
The Nasdaq 100 has dropped more than 2 per cent in recent sessions, with losses spreading across technology and other rate-sensitive stocks. Market participants note that Bitcoin has increasingly moved in tandem with equities, reinforcing the view that it is behaving more like a high-beta technology asset than a hedge or safe haven.
The initial phase of the correction was triggered by leveraged liquidations across derivatives exchanges. However, traders now point to a deeper erosion of investor confidence.
Flows into US-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have turned choppy. After attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in inflows earlier this week, ETFs recorded fresh outflows — a signal that institutional conviction may be wavering amid heightened volatility.
The sell-off has also raised questions over the durability of the post-election rally that followed US President Donald Trump’s return to office.
Optimism over lighter-touch regulation and proposals for a strategic crypto reserve had powered Bitcoin’s surge in late 2024 and early 2025. But legislative delays in Washington and mounting scrutiny around Trump-linked crypto ventures have clouded the regulatory outlook, tempering bullish sentiment.
Crypto’s slump has unfolded alongside weakness in equities and commodities. Silver has tumbled in recent sessions, while several Asian equity benchmarks have declined amid rising macro uncertainty.
The synchronised retreat highlights a broader reality: digital assets are now deeply embedded in global liquidity cycles, rising and falling in tandem with shifts in risk appetite rather than trading as an isolated alternative asset class.
