Digital asset markets experienced significant downward pressure as leading cryptocurrencies declined between 3-8% during Monday’s trading session. Bitcoin (BTC) retreated 3% to $104,500, while Ethereum (ETH) fell 5% to $3,520. Binance Coin (BNB) dropped 6% to $955, and Solana (SOL) witnessed the steepest decline among major assets, plunging 8% to $162. The market downturn triggered substantial liquidations exceeding $1.2 billion, with long positions comprising approximately 90% of the losses, pushing the Crypto Fear & Greed Index firmly into ‘Extreme Fear’ territory.
Despite the broader market weakness, several altcoins posted impressive gains. Decred (DCR) surged 111%, Dash (DASH) climbed 50%, and Internet Computer (ICP) advanced 30%, emerging as the day’s top performers.
The market turmoil coincided with significant security incidents and industry developments. Balancer protocol suffered a $128 million exploit, described by developers as a ‘vibe-coded’ hack, prompting Berachain to temporarily halt its blockchain operations amid cascading pool drains across Ethereum and interconnected networks.
In corporate announcements, Hollywood.com revealed a partnership with Crypto.com to develop entertainment-focused prediction markets, while Ripple expanded its U.S. operations with new prime brokerage services for digital assets. Strategy corporation disclosed plans to issue 3.5 million shares of its 10% Series A Perpetual Stream Preferred Stock ($STRE), allocating proceeds toward Bitcoin acquisitions.
Regulatory developments included U.S. prosecutors seeking maximum five-year sentences for Samurai Wallet founders, and FTSE Russell announcing it will publish global equity, foreign exchange, and digital asset market index data directly on blockchain infrastructure through Chainlink integration.
