Crypto Market Takes a Hit as Stocks Struggle

The crypto world saw red across the board this week as digital assets followed tech stocks downward. Bitcoin dropped to around $62, 300, losing 2. 5% in a single day. Ethereum fell even harder, sliding over 4% to about $1, 650. The pain wasn’t limited to just these two giants—most altcoins got crushed too. Smaller tokens like Ethena and Hype lost 5-6%, and over $700 million in trades were liquidated, forcing prices down even more. The selloff started after tech stocks took a beating on Monday. Nasdaq futures dropped sharply, signaling trouble ahead. Traders blamed profit-taking and concerns about rising bond yields for the stock market’s struggles. As tech stocks weakened, crypto investors got nervous, pulling money out of digital assets too. Even the U. S. Dollar Index shot up to its highest level in over a year, hitting 101. 15. A stronger dollar usually makes crypto less attractive since it becomes more expensive for buyers outside the U. S.Derivatives data shows traders are betting against crypto right now. Open interest in certain futures, like SpaceX contracts, surged 10% even as prices fell 15%. That’s a sign people are piling into short positions, expecting prices to drop further. Even XRP, one of the bigger altcoins, saw its futures open interest jump to 2. 38 billion tokens. But despite the hype, XRP still lost nearly 2% over the week. Most top 25 coins are seeing more sellers than buyers, with negative trading volumes reflecting that. Privacy coins bucked the trend slightly. Dash and Monero barely budged, losing less than 1%, while Zcash—recently hit by an AI-related exploit—dropped 4. 2%. AI-themed tokens like Fetch, Render, and Bittensor also struggled, falling 3-5% as the tech selloff spread. The market’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) sits at 39. 05, which usually means assets are oversold and could bounce back soon. Options traders are playing it safe. Most are holding long call bets heading into Friday’s quarterly expiry, but those bets are underwater due to falling prices. Meanwhile, put options (bets on prices going down) are profitable. The market is clearly nervous, and traders are paying extra for downside protection. Even Bitcoin’s implied volatility index has climbed, suggesting more people expect choppy waters ahead.