Bitcoin Slips Below $63,000 as Altcoins Follow Suit
Bitcoin's decline below $63,000 on Monday left it more than 4% lower for the week, as the market struggled to maintain momentum from a brief Sunday rebound. The renewed slide showed that weekend relief had not addressed the fragile demand in the market. Bitcoin had reached $63,700 after easing geopolitical concerns, but sellers quickly regained control.
The decline of Bitcoin triggered losses across major altcoins, with Ethereum and XRP following suit. Ether fell below $1,850, while XRP struggled to remain above $1.05, a critical support area. The Coldcard incident added an unusual layer of uncertainty, as it challenged confidence in direct custody.
The market reaction remained surprisingly restrained compared to the scale of the security breach. Bitcoin declined about 1.5% over 24 hours and Ether nearly 2%, while implied volatility stayed near 37%. Derivatives positioning offered no simple directional signal, with more than 52% of taker futures volume leaning short.
Total crypto capitalization fell by about $40 billion to $2.22 trillion, leaving XRP, ETH, and other large tokens vulnerable if Bitcoin failed to defend the $62,000 region.