The crypto market is teetering on the brink of a major breakdown in price after suffering one of its worst weeks since July 2024.
Bitcoin BTC $ 61,875.23 , currently trading around $62,500 has lost more 14.5% since midnight UTC on Monday morning, while ether (ETH) has plunged by more than 17%, dropping 5.5% on Friday alone.
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, is now at its lowest level since April 2025, when it bounced at $1,420 before rallying to record highs over the subsequent four months. A break below that level would bring it toward 2022 bear-market levels, when it dipped below $900.
The broader altcoin market also suffered deep losses this week. One of the worst performers on Friday was zcash (ZEC), which tumbled by more than 30% after a security researcher found an exploit that would have minted "unlimited" tokens in its shielded pool.
There are multiple catalysts causing this week's slide. Strategy (MSTR) Executive Chairman Michael Saylor attributed it to capital rotation in light of a series of artificial intelligence IPOs in the U.S., while onchain analysts are pointing towards a lack of spot crypto volume .
CryptoQuant notes that spot trading volume fell to $679 billion in April, the lowest monthly level since October 2023, indicating a lack of demand.
American's biggest banks plan to introduce a shared tokenized network next year to tackle the potential threat of stablecoins eating into their deposits.