Crypto Markets Dump $230 Billion in Massive Red Friday Selloff

Crypto asset markets are plummeting during the morning of Jan 21 as hundreds of billions of dollars get wiped off the total market capitalization.

Cryptocurrency markets are deep in the red this Friday morning as total market capitalization has declined by almost 11% over the past 12 hours. The massive slump has resulted in a loss of around $233 billion sending the total market cap plunging below $2 trillion for the first time since late September.

Over the past 12 hours, the crypto market cap has fallen from around $2.15 trillion to a four-month low of $1.92 trillion according to CoinGecko.

The crypto “fear and greed” index has plunged to an “extreme fear” level of 19 as market sentiment turns increasingly bearish.

Bitcoin plunges to six-month low

Bitcoin is playing the digital pied piper yet again, leading the fall with a loss of 7.1% over the past 24 hours. At the time of press, BTC was trading at $38,937, its lowest level since Aug 4, 2021.

Over the past 12 hours or so, Bitcoin has dumped around $4,800 in a fall to an intraday and almost six-month low of $38,536. It has now broken through support at the $40,000 range and further losses look very likely at this stage.

Ethereum is also in a world of pain at the moment having lost 8.4% over the past 24 hours according to CoinGecko. ETH prices have slumped to their lowest levels since Sept. 29 when they hit $2,809 a couple of hours ago. The asset is currently changing hands for $2,862 after losing 12% over the past week.

There is a sea of red enveloping the high cap crypto assets at the moment leaving very few survivors. Those taking the biggest hits include Binance Coin (BNB), Cardano (ADA), Polkadot (DOT), and Avalanche (AVAX), all dumping more than 9%.

Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Polygon (MATIC), have all lost between 7%-9%.

Any crypto survivors?

Aside from the stablecoins, most of which are trading slightly above their pegs, only one token in the top one hundred is in the green at the moment. Bitfinex’s LEO token is the lone survivor of the crypto crash with a gain of 2.7% to trade at $3.77 at the time of press.

Some industry observers are citing Russia’s proposed crypto ban as the catalyst for the selloff. However, global stock markets have also taken a big hit this week indicating that something bigger is at play.