The cryptocurrency market has seen a downturn in the last 24 hours, with trading volume falling by 2.83% to $61.3 billion. Bitcoin (BTC) remained volatile, fluctuating between $96,051.56 and $97,672.65, while Ethereum (ETH) dropped 1.40% to $2,660.60. The overall market capitalisation also declined by 1.32% to $3.19 trillion.
Bitcoin has been trading within a tight range, losing 1.32% since yesterday. Despite this short-term pressure, institutional interest continues to grow, with Japanese investment firm Metaplanet announcing plans to expand its Bitcoin holdings from 1,762 BTC to a target of 10,000 BTC by the end of 2025.
Ethereum followed Bitcoin’s lead, falling 1.40%, while XRP recorded a sharper decline of 3.55%. Solana took the biggest hit among major cryptocurrencies, plunging 6.18% to test a critical support level at $181.
Meme coins were not spared in the downturn. Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped nearly 2% to trade at $0.26, while Shiba Inu (SHIB) dropped over 1% to $0.00001592. TRUMP coin fell 3% to $18.36. Meanwhile, a few altcoins bucked the trend, with Sonic (S) gaining 4% to hit $0.544, PancakeSwap (CAKE) rising 3% to $2.74, and The Graph (GRT) climbing 3% to $0.1417.
Among the hardest-hit tokens, Jupiter (JUP) suffered a 10% loss, dropping to $0.8438, while Litecoin (LTC) and Raydium (RAY) also struggled, with LTC falling 8% to $124.52 and RAY declining 7% to $4.91.
Adding to market developments, crypto exchange FTX is set to begin repaying creditors with claims under $50,000 starting February 18. The payments, facilitated by BitGo and Kraken, are expected to restore some investor confidence.
In contrast to the broader market slump, the Grok token saw an 82% surge following Elon Musk’s confirmation of the Grok 3 AI launch. Traders rushed to capitalize on the hype, pushing the token’s market cap to approximately $33.51 million. At last check, Grok was trading at around $0.0053, despite having no official ties to Musk’s AI venture, xAI.
With Grok 3 set to debut on Monday at 8:00 PM Pacific Time, speculation remains high. However, questions persist about the sustainability of the token’s rally, given its lack of fundamental backing.
