Crypto market update: Bitcoin dips to $79K amid liquidation spike

The cryptocurrency market tumbled on February 28 as Bitcoin (BTC) briefly dipped to $79K, triggering a wave of liquidations.

Ethereum (ETH) followed suit, falling below the $2,200 mark, while major altcoins, including XRP and Solana (SOL), shed nearly 8% in value.

The downturn comes amid heightened global trade war concerns fueled by Donald Trump’s new tariffs on the EU, Canada, and Mexico, leading to widespread investor panic.

With over $700 million worth of liquidations in the past 24 hours and a 4% decline in total market capitalization to $2.7 trillion, traders remain on edge about the next move.

Bitcoin price drops as market volatility surges

Bitcoin’s price fell by more than 5% in the last 24 hours, reaching a low of $79,523 before stabilizing at $80,430, according to CoinMarketCap data.

The decline resulted in $365.91 million in BTC liquidations, signaling heightened sell-offs.

However, Bitcoin’s market dominance increased by 0.07%, suggesting altcoins bore the brunt of the selling pressure.

Ethereum witnessed a sharp 7% drop, sinking to $2,132 with an intraday low of $2,128.18.

The second-largest cryptocurrency faced $166.28 million in liquidations as traders reacted to broader market trends.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Altcoins face heavy sell-offs

• XRP plunged 7% to $2.04, with liquidations totaling $17.94 million.
  
• Solana (SOL) dropped 8%, trading at $128.42. Despite the sell-off, market expert Raoul Pal remains optimistic, citing oversold conditions.
  
• Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) plummeted 8% despite whale accumulation and increased SHIB burn rates.
  
• Pepe Coin (PEPE) and TRUMP Coin saw the biggest losses, declining 12%-16%.

Top gainers and losers in today’s crypto market

While most cryptos bled, a few tokens managed to stay in the green:
Top Gainers:

• Berachain (BERA): +4% ($7.71)
• Litecoin (LTC): +2% ($124.81)
• UNUS SED LEO (LEO): +1% ($9.20)

Top Losers:

• Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL): -12% ($1.01)
• Raydium (RAY): -12% ($2.13)

Meanwhile, the Asian stock markets tumbled on Friday after US President Donald Trump confirmed tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China, rattling investor sentiment.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.9%, while the Topix fell 0.68% in early trading. South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 1.54%, with the Kosdaq down 1.69%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 1.14%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.86%.

China’s CSI 300 remained largely flat as investors assessed the potential impact of additional US trade measures.

This renewed trade uncertainty weighed heavily on US markets, with all three major indexes closing lower.

The S&P 500 fell 1.59% to 5,861.57, extending its weekly losses.

The Nasdaq Composite tumbled 2.78% to 18,544.42, dragged down by an 8.5% drop in Nvidia, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 193.62 points (0.45%) to close at 43,239.50.

The crypto market continues to grapple with macroeconomic pressures and liquidity challenges, leading to heightened uncertainty.

With Bitcoin and Ethereum at critical support levels, traders remain cautious, awaiting further market signals.

In other crypto price update, here are the prices of a few alt coins:

Ox was trading at 0.2737, down 6.88%.

1inch was trading at $0.2283, down 6.28%.

Aave was trading at $184.34, down 9.51%.

Abbc Coin was trading at $0.002936, up 8.61%.

Aelf was trading at $0.2545, down 4.47%.

Æternity was trading at $0.01945, down 0.38%.

Aion was trading at $0.001465, down 1.67%.

Airswap was trading at $0.06215, down 6.88%.

Algorand was trading at $0.2191, down 8.36%.

Ampleforth was trading at $1.13, down 1.76%.

Ankr was trading at $0.01960, 7.09%.

Apecoin was at $0.5885, down 7.84%.

Aptos was at $5.72, down 6.11%.

Aragon was at $0.4950, down 18.37%.

Arbitrum was at $0.3884, down 8.97%.

Ardor was at $0.06506, down 4.68%.

Ark was at $0.3824, down 8.92%.

Arweavwe was at $7.65, down 8.68%.

Augur was at $0.5306, down 9.29%.

Avalanche was trading at $20.42, down 8.95%.

Other alt/meme coins like Waves, WazirX, Wings, Worldcoin, Yearn Finance, Zcash, Zcoin, Zerobank, and Zilliqa came under pressure due to the broader market effect and were showing volatility in prices at the time of writing.

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