The cryptocurrency market is currently experiencing a significant decline on Monday morning, with major coins such as ETH and XRP seeing notable decreases. ETH, for example, is once again trading below $3K and is down by 4% for the day. XRP has also dropped by 5%, with bulls now fighting to defend the critical $0.4 level. Looking at the heatmap data, it is evident that all large-cap altcoins are trading well in the red, with no exceptions.
The downturn in the market in recent hours has led to almost $300 million worth of liquidated leveraged positions. The majority of these positions were long, with $113 million being short positions. This indicates choppy price action in the market, where both long and short traders are facing challenges in predicting the direction of the market accurately.
One category that has been substantially impacted by the market decline is that of meme coins. According to data from CoinGecko, the entire meme coin sector is down by 10% in the past 24 hours alone. Major meme coins like DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, WIF, BONK, and FLOKI are currently plummeting, with significant declines ranging from 4.8% to 10%. This indicates a broader trend of negative sentiment and selling pressure within the meme coin sector.
The popular Crypto Fear and Greed Index currently shows a market sentiment level of 28, which reflects fear among market participants. To provide context, the sentiment index was at 53 this time last week and 72 the same time last month. This suggests that market participants are cautious and apprehensive about the potential selling pressure that may arise from creditors disposing of their recovered BTC and BCH from the Mt. Gox exchange.
The cryptocurrency market is currently going through a significant downturn, with major coins and meme coins experiencing notable decreases. The liquidation of leveraged positions, choppy price action, and fearful market sentiment all point towards a challenging and uncertain period for cryptocurrency traders and investors. It is essential for market participants to stay informed and cautious in such volatile market conditions to navigate the risks effectively.