On July 8, the majority of altcoins were seen in the red, including BRETT, PEPE, WIF, and JUP, which fell by more than 10% as Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, fell by 4% in the past day.
At the time of writing, BRETT, the meme coin inspired by the character from the “Boy’s Club” comic book, is still down 8% in the last 24 hours and 30% in the last 7 days. Over the past day, the cryptocurrency’s trading volume hovered around $49.1 million. Moreover, the meme coin’s market cap has also dropped to $1.12 billion, making it the 62nd largest cryptocurrency according to the CoinMarketCap (CMC) index.
Ethereum-based meme coin PEPE led the list of the biggest losers on Monday morning, down 12% over the past day. Over the past week, the meme coin has also fallen by 30%. At the time of writing, the meme coin inspired by the popular green frog meme has a daily trading volume of $768 million, while its market cap has fallen to $3.47 billion, and it is now ranked 24th among the top 100 cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, the Solana-based WIF token is still down 11% over the past day, trading at $1.66 at press time. Over the past week, the token is also down less than 27%. Meanwhile, the Solana-based WIF token saw a 14% increase in its daily trading volume, reaching around $468 million. Its market cap has dropped to $1.6 billion.
Solana-based decentralized exchange Jupyter (JUP) has dropped 10% in the last 24 hours and 16% over the past week. The crypto asset’s daily trading volume has stabilized at $109 million, while its market cap has fallen below $1 billion.
Bitcoin’s value has fallen by 4% in the past day to $55,676 on Monday morning. Its 24-hour lows and highs were $54,424 and $57,863, respectively. The crypto asset has fallen by 12% in the past seven days.
The Bitcoin price drop coincided with the German government moving 700 Bitcoins, worth around $40.47 million, to cryptocurrency exchanges. The move is part of an ongoing trend, as the German government has been steadily selling its Bitcoin holdings since June.
According to Lookonchain, a blockchain data analysis platform, the German government recently transferred 700 BTC to exchanges, sparking mixed reactions on crypto Twitter, with some predicting a potential crash to the $40,000 region.
In addition to the market volatility, Mt. Gox moved 47,229 BTC worth $2.7 billion to an unknown wallet, further impacting the decline in Bitcoin price.
Mt. Gox, once the leading cryptocurrency exchange before its collapse in 2014, is set to begin repaying its debts to its creditors. This has raised concerns that the influx of bitcoin into the market could further drive prices down as creditors may choose to sell their recovered funds immediately.
As of July 5, the German government holds 41,226 bitcoins worth $2.28 billion, while the U.S. government holds 213,297 bitcoins worth $11.72 billion. Additionally, Mt. Gox controls 141,687 bitcoins worth $7.78 billion.
The overall decline in the altcoin market is closely linked to the performance of Bitcoin due to its significant influence and market dominance. When Bitcoin experiences significant price declines, it often creates a ripple effect across the cryptocurrency market, leading to widespread declines in altcoin values as investor confidence declines and market sentiment turns bearish.
Despite the current downturn in altcoin prices and the broader cryptocurrency market, some analysts are still optimistic that the altcoin season could start soon.