Crypto Black Monday: What’s Happening in the Market Today?
Today, the cryptocurrency market experienced a severe downturn, already being dubbed “Crypto Black Monday,” driven by global recession fears.
Bitcoin’s price plunged over 13%, falling to $50,963.57 and briefly dipping below $50,000 for the first time since February. This marks an 18% loss since Saturday, following a peak of $69,982 just a week ago.
Ethereum faced even steeper declines, dropping 17% to $2,271.21, erasing its 2024 gains with a three-day loss of 24%.
Crypto-related stocks were also hit hard, with Coinbase falling 13%, MicroStrategy nearly 17%, and various mining stocks seeing double-digit declines.
The broader market sell-off began last week after a weaker-than-expected July jobs report heightened recession fears. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite entered a correction, and Japanese stocks fell into a bear market with a 12% drop, marking their worst one-day sell-off since 1987.
Adding to the economic and geopolitical concerns, crypto investors are dealing with sell pressure from Mt. Gox distributions and decreasing odds of a second Donald Trump presidency.
Hackers Exploit ETH Price Drop Using Stolen Funds
During today’s market crash, hackers seized the opportunity to buy heavily discounted Ether using stolen funds from previous heists. On Monday, the Nomad Bridge exploiter spent 39.75 million DAI to acquire 16,892 ETH.
The Nomad Bridge exploit was a significant event in August 2022, involving a cross-chain protocol that facilitates asset transfers between different blockchains. Vulnerabilities in the bridge’s code led to the unauthorized withdrawal of over $190 million worth of crypto.
Jump Crypto Liquidates ETH Holdings
Further exacerbating the cryptocurrency crash, Jump Crypto, the crypto division of Jump Trading, has liquidated substantial amounts of Ethereum on centralized exchanges such as Binance, OKX, Bybit, Coinbase, and Gate.io.
Blockchain analytics platform SpotOnChain reported that in the past 24 hours alone, Jump Crypto moved 17,576 ETH, worth over $46.78 million, to these exchanges. Over the past 10 days, Jump Crypto’s total exchange deposits have amounted to $277 million worth of Ether.
Dr. Julian Hosp, co-founder of DeFi platform Cake Group, suggested, “The reason for the massive crypto sell-off seems to be Jump Trading, who are either getting margin called in the traditional markets and need liquidity over the weekend or they are exiting the crypto business due to regulatory reasons (Terra Luna related).”
DeFi Liquidations Hit Yearly High
In other news, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols on Ethereum have seen a surge in on-chain liquidations, reaching a new yearly peak of over $350 million in the last 24 hours.
The market turbulence and broader crypto sell-off contributed to this spike. Major assets like ETH, Aave, wstETH, and wBTC were significantly impacted, with ETH collateral bearing the largest liquidation burden at $216 million, followed by wstETH at $97 million, and wBTC at $35 million.
This market turmoil underscores the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies and the interconnectedness of global financial markets, highlighting the need for robust risk management strategies in both traditional and digital asset investment portfolios.
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