Cryptocurrencies fell sharply on Wednesday, mirroring declines across traditional financial markets. The CoinDesk 20 index, which tracks the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization (excluding stablecoins and exchange coins), dropped 2.6% in the last 24 hours. Chainlink (LINK) was the worst performer, plummeting 7.6%, while Internet Computer (ICP) was the sole exception, gaining 1%.
Bitcoin (BTC) slid 2.3%, settling at $66,000, and Ethereum (ETH) tumbled 5.3%, bringing its price back under $2,490. Solana (SOL), however, showed resilience, trading flat at $169 at press time.
Ethereum faced pressure not only against Bitcoin but also against Solana. The ETH/BTC ratio dipped below 0.038 for the first time since April 2021, and the SOL/ETH trading pair reached a new all-time high, climbing 6.3% to 0.068. This shift has spurred debate over Ethereum’s future roadmap.
“Much of the negative sentiment around Ethereum’s roadmap is due to its recent underperformance compared to BTC and SOL,” said Brian Rudick, director of research at GSR, a crypto trading firm. He pointed out that Bitcoin’s success with spot ETFs and Solana’s recovery from the FTX collapse have fueled their gains. Rudick noted that when factoring out the FTX collapse, ETH and SOL have performed similarly since crypto’s all-time high in November 2021.
With the U.S. election just two weeks away, the crypto market has seen little relief. Joe Edwards, head of research at Enigma Securities, noted in a report that despite the potential for crypto-friendly policies under Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, markets are unlikely to see significant gains before election day.
The downturn in crypto wasn’t isolated, as broader markets also faced losses. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones all dropped by more than 1% by the session’s end. The bond market also struggled, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising to a three-month high of 4.25%. Gold, which had been hitting record highs recently, fell 1.1% to $2,730 per ounce, while oil prices slipped 1.35% to $70.77 per barrel.
In the crypto equity space, Bitcoin miners saw the biggest losses. MARA Holdings (MARA) and CleanSpark (CLSK) each fell by 5%, Coinbase (COIN) dropped 6%, and MicroStrategy (MSTR) lost 2.5%.
Amid the market pullback, Ram Ahluwalia, CEO of Lumida Wealth, took to X (formerly Twitter) to offer a glimmer of hope: “Don’t worry folks, Tesla will save the market when they report earnings.” Tesla is set to release its quarterly earnings after the market closes today. Ahluwalia expressed optimism for the near future, predicting that “November is looking very good.”
Related Topics:
