On Wednesday, August 28, the cryptocurrency market experienced notable turbulence, with several major digital assets witnessing significant losses. Ripple and Dogecoin were among those that saw substantial declines in their value, while Shiba Inu and Chainlink also recorded notable price dips. Contrarily, certain cryptocurrencies like Leo and Near Protocol managed to post gains amidst the broader market downturn.

Bitcoin (BTC), the flagship cryptocurrency, exhibited a sharp price drop of 4.22 percent on Indian exchanges over the past 24 hours. At the time of reporting, BTC was trading at approximately $63,385 (roughly Rs. 53 lakh) on platforms like CoinSwitch. On international exchanges, Bitcoin’s value plummeted below the $60,000 mark (approximately Rs. 50.3 lakh) for the first time in weeks, with CoinMarketCap data indicating a trading price of $59,613 (roughly Rs. 50 lakh).

In a conversation with Gadgets360, Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex, highlighted that investors were liquidating their holdings, causing market turmoil. Patel warned that the next few days might see heightened volatility, especially with several major technology firms set to release their quarterly earnings reports. Companies like Nvidia, CrowdStrike, Salesforce, and HP were scheduled to disclose their financial performance later in the day, with Autodesk’s report expected the following day. Market participants would be keenly observing these earnings reports as they could significantly influence overall market sentiment and potentially impact Bitcoin’s price trajectory.

Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, mirrored Bitcoin’s downtrend. ETH was trading at $2,394 (roughly Rs. 2.01 lakh), experiencing a one percent decline as per Gadgets360’s crypto price tracker.

Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin, pointed out that a wave of liquidations amounting to over $300 million (roughly Rs. 2,518 crore) due to investor uncertainty and a general market meltdown was the main driver behind the overall market decline.

Avinash Shekhar, Co-Founder and CEO of Pi42, shared similar insights with Gadgets360. He noted that the cryptocurrency market faced a significant downturn led by Bitcoin’s fall, triggering liquidations that affected more than 87,000 traders and resulted in losses exceeding $320 million (roughly Rs. 2,686 crore). While August is typically a calm period for cryptocurrencies, this year’s market has been exceptionally volatile.

The overall market capitalization of the crypto sector fell by 5.27 percent in the last 24 hours. Consequently, the sector’s valuation dropped to $2.09 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,75,46,041 crore), as reported by CoinMarketCap.

Amidst these challenges, some cryptocurrencies managed to buck the trend and register gains. Notable performers included Binance Coin (BNB), Solana (SOL), Leo (LEO), Near Protocol (NEAR), and Qtum (QTUM).

The team at CoinDCX explained to Gadgets360 that technical indicators had already been suggesting bearish trends, contributing to the weakness in many tokens. While most altcoins followed Bitcoin’s downward trajectory, cryptocurrencies in the AI category exhibited resilience and outperformed the market.

Overall, this period marked significant upheaval in the cryptocurrency market with varying performances across different digital assets. The coming days could further shape the landscape as external factors like corporate earnings reports play out.