No Clear Catalyst for Altcoin Bloodbath, Analysts Say

Crypto market analysts suggest the recent altcoin crash may be linked to a wave of spot Bitcoin ETF outflows. On Monday, the crypto markets plunged, with some altcoins dropping more than 10%. An industry analyst told Cointelegraph that there’s “no clear catalyst” for the sudden decline.

The overall crypto market cap has decreased to $2.46 trillion, a 3.5% drop in the last 24 hours. Among the top 20 altcoins by market cap, Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Avalanche (AVAX) were the hardest hit on June 17, falling 12.7% and 10.6%, respectively, according to CoinGecko data.

Other significant drops included Uniswap (UNI) and Dogecoin (DOGE), both experiencing double-digit declines, while Solana (SOL) fell by 9.4%. Ripple’s XRP was the only major non-stablecoin that did not see a decline, posting a minor 0.1% increase. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) also dropped, by 1.3% and 4.4%, respectively, over the past 24 hours.

Henrik Andersson, chief investment officer at Apollo Crypto, noted he couldn’t identify a specific reason for the market fall but suggested reduced interest in spot Bitcoin ETFs might be a factor. He mentioned that negative BTC ETF flows might have led to weakness in altcoins, triggering liquidations of leveraged long positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen outflows on five of the last six trading days, based on data from Farside Investors. Digital asset firm 10xResearch also linked the recent altcoin crash to the decline in spot Bitcoin ETF flows over the past week but suggested the relationship might be reversed.

“It’s surprising that Bitcoin isn’t rallying despite weak inflation data, but the crash in Ethereum and altcoins might have been anticipated,” 10xResearch commented.

Bitcoin Miners Surge Despite BTC’s Price Drop

Conversely, Bitcoin mining stocks have been performing well in recent weeks, recovering some losses from April’s halving event. Mitchell Askew, head analyst at Blockware Solutions, told Cointelegraph that mining stocks had underperformed before the halving due to concerns about post-halving profitability.

However, these fears have subsided, and mining stocks are now returning to equilibrium, outperforming Bitcoin and its proxies like MicroStrategy. The Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners exchange-traded fund (WGMI) has risen around 54% since the halving, indicating renewed market confidence in the mining sector.