Altcoins Crash as Bitcoin Holds Steady at $95,000 Amid Market Jitters

The cryptocurrency market extended its decline on Tuesday, with altcoins facing steep sell-offs while bitcoin (BTC) showed resilience, dropping just 3% to $95,000.

Leading the losses were tokens like XRP, Polkadot (DOT), Litecoin (LTC), Aptos (APT), and Cardano (ADA), which plummeted between 15% and 18% over the past 24 hours. The CoinDesk 20 index, which tracks the largest cryptocurrencies excluding stablecoins and memecoins, fell nearly 10%. Other significant assets like Ethereum’s ether (ETH) and Solana’s SOL recorded declines of 8% and 9%, respectively, marking a sharp downturn in the altcoin market.

Bitcoin, by contrast, demonstrated relative stability, outperforming most other assets as it slid back to $95,000.

The crypto market has seen cascading liquidations, with Monday’s plunge wiping out $1.5 billion in leveraged bullish positions. Tuesday added to the pain with an additional $450 million in liquidations, primarily from long positions, according to data from CoinGlass. Despite the downturn, bitcoin futures remain active, with open interest sitting near $58 billion, albeit down 6.8% from the weekend peak.

The sell-off follows a frenetic rally in November that saw altcoins soar and bitcoin breach the $100,000 milestone for the first time. However, the market appears to be cooling ahead of key inflation data set to be released on Wednesday.

Bitcoin’s dominance in the crypto market cap rose to 57.9%, the highest level in weeks, signaling a shift as investors sought safety in the leading cryptocurrency while shunning riskier altcoin bets.

Market observers pointed to the upcoming inflation report as a critical factor driving sentiment. “The crypto market is positioning itself cautiously ahead of the CPI release,” said Ruslan Lienkha, Chief of Markets at YouHodler. “A higher-than-expected inflation reading could exacerbate the ongoing correction, pushing investors to reassess the timeline for Federal Reserve rate cuts next year.”

Unlike the turbulence in crypto, traditional equities remained calm. U.S. stock indices were largely flat on Tuesday after minor declines on Monday, underscoring the divergence in volatility between digital assets and conventional markets.