Bitcoin (BTC) price drops back to $95K after cryptocurrency kickback fails

Cryptocurrencies continued this week's decline on Tuesday, with near-collapse altcoins like bitcoin (BTC) sliding further from the $100,000 level.

Among the worst hit cryptos were XRP, Polkadot (DOT), Litecoin (LTC), Aptos (APT) and Cardano (ADA), down 15%-18% over the past 24 hours, expanding down decline on Monday. The CoinDesk 20 – an index of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding memecoins, stablecoins and exchange coins – fell by almost 10% Most cryptos in the index were down by a percentage amount double-digit at least, although ether Ethereum (ETH) and Solana's SOL fell only 8% and 9%, respectively.

Bitcoin, in contrast, held up relatively well compared to the rest of the market, going down to $95,000 and down nearly 3% over the past 24 hours.

The currency had already fallen on Monday, triggering one of the biggest leverage flows in years liquidating more than $1.5 billion of bullish derivatives positions. Tuesday's drop so far brought $450 million in liquidation across all digital assets, mostly bullish bets, CoinGlass data shows. Open interest for bitcoin futures remains at an all-time high at nearly $58 billion, although it has declined 6.8% since Sunday.

This week's selloff followed a month-long rally in crypto prices following Donald Trump's election victory in early November. Some altcoin elevators doubled or more in price, and bitcoin crossed the $100,000 threshold for an all-time high.

Bitcoin's market cap dominance, which shows BTC's share of the total digital currency market, rose to 57.9% on Tuesday, its strongest reading since late November, underscoring the general risk shift from altcoins to BTC.

The movement of the market could be expected with inflation data coming on Wednesday, according to the CEO of Youholder Markets Ruslan Lienkha. “The market is expecting a slight increase in inflation,” he told CoinDesk in an email. “However, if CPI shows higher than expected figures, it could intensify the ongoing correction across financial markets. In such a scenario, the timing and likelihood of Federal Reserve rate cuts will become a key focus in the new year.”

Stocks, however, have not suffered in the same way that crypto has. After a small decline on Monday, the US major average is flat today.