Bitcoin, Ethereum, and major altcoins fell as macroeconomic uncertainty continued to weigh on sentiment.
Cryptocurrency markets fell for the second day in a row on Wednesday following a brief rebound on Monday, as investors remained cautious following a turbulent weekend and recent geopolitical developments.
Bitcoin (BTC) is down 1.5% on the day, trading at $111,000, while Ethereum (ETH) is down 3.3%, trading at $3,987.
Other top tokens also recorded declines, with BNB falling 3.7% to $1,172 after hitting a recent high of around $1,370 on Monday. Solana (SOL) fell 2.6% to $197, and XRP fell 2.6% to $2.44.
The market capitalization of cryptocurrencies fell by 2.4% on the day to $3.85 trillion, with Bitcoin’s lead at 57% and Ethereum’s lead at 12.4%.
The day’s biggest decliners included Bittensall (TAO), which fell 8% to $423. Story (IP), down 6% to $6.33. Internet Computer (ICP) fell 5.9% to $3.34.
COAI increases rapidly
Among the day’s top gainers, ChainOpera AI (COAI) surged a whopping 135% to $20, with weekly gains of over 300% and over 4,000% since its launch on September 25th. Since this morning, the token has cooled slightly to $16, but is still up 67% on the day.
The dramatic move has caught the attention of market watchers, with some suggesting possible manipulation on social media.
“We are considering projects out of nowhere with fake AI products that have no traction. [that] “Within two weeks, it was listed on Binance, Bybit and other CEXs, and has since skyrocketed to the top 10 cryptocurrencies,” popular crypto account @altsteinn wrote in a post on X.
According to data from CoinGecko, the token’s market capitalization is currently just over $3 billion.
Clearing and ETF flows
According to Coinglass, more than $396 million in crypto positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours. Long positions accounted for nearly $247 million, while short positions accounted for more than $149 million.
Ethereum led the way in liquidations with $120 million, followed by Bitcoin with $88 million and other altcoins with $34 million.
The Spot Bitcoin ETF recorded inflows of over $102 million on Tuesday, reversing two consecutive days of outflows. Similarly, the Spot Ethereum ETF also raised more than $236 million, according to SoSoValue, also rebounding from two consecutive days of losses.
Rising geopolitical tensions
The continued weakness in the market comes amid rising geopolitical tensions between the United States and countries such as China and Venezuela.
U.S.-China trade tensions escalated last Friday when President Donald Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on imports of high-tech products from China in response to China’s export restrictions on rare earth minerals.
And on Tuesday, President Trump said six suspected drug traffickers were killed in a U.S. ship attack off the coast of Venezuela. In a post on Truth Social, the president said the attack targeted a “designated terrorist organization” involved in drug trafficking.
These developments, which have heightened uncertainty in global markets, come against the backdrop of the US government shutdown, now in its third week. According to CBS, the Senate is scheduled to vote this afternoon for the ninth time on a bill to reopen the government.