Summary
- Total crypto market capitalization fell 4.5% to $2.61 trillion in 24 hours.
- Bitcoin dropped 2.5% to $76,886, trading near its weakest October level in 12 years.
- Pepe led major gainers, rising 11.4% to $0.00000498 while most tokens fell.
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.61 trillion as of Friday, down 4.5% over the prior 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. Bitcoin, which commands 59.1% of total market share, fell 2.5% to $76,886.48. The decline followed a security breach at a major exchange that resulted in roughly $6.3 billion in losses, prompting stablecoin issuers to move to freeze stolen funds before they could be converted into untraceable assets. The episode has also weighed on crypto-linked equities, compounding pressure from a broader technology stock downturn that has pushed gold to its lowest price in a year.
Ethereum's dominance held at 10.4% of total market value as trading volume across the sector reached $122.8 billion for the day. Among large-cap tokens, Hyperliquid slipped 2.2% to $89.22, Solana eased 1.1% to $95.77, and BNB dipped 0.6% to $699.36, reflecting a broad but uneven retreat rather than a uniform rout. Chainlink and NEAR Protocol bucked the trend with gains of 5.7% and 5.4% respectively, while Polkadot rose 5.3% to $0.97, suggesting selective buying persisted even as sentiment soured.
Pepe was the session's standout gainer among closely tracked tokens, climbing 11.4% to $0.00000498, outperforming a field of five top movers that included Uniswap, up 8.8% to $6.98, and Ethena, up 7.6% to $0.1895. Ondo and Aave also advanced, gaining 7.2% and 6.7% respectively, pointing to renewed appetite in decentralized finance and tokenization-linked names even as the broader market contracted.
On the losing side, MemeCore fell 7.4% to $0.9464 and Rain dropped 7.0% to $0.00633, the steepest declines among tracked large-cap tokens. TRON, the eighth-largest cryptocurrency by market value, slid 5.8% to $0.3284, while Monero fell 4.3% to $588.16. BlackRock's tokenized liquidity fund token held flat at $1, consistent with its design as a stable-value instrument.
Trending search data showed mixed signals beneath the headline decline. Super Pepe fell 15.6% to $0.0152, the sharpest drop among widely searched tokens, while Pudgy Penguins rose 5.2% to $0.00748. Separately, stablecoin issuer Tether reported that its excess reserves had nearly doubled to $8 billion with a $1.5 billion third-quarter profit, underscoring the scale of capital still flowing through dollar-pegged tokens even as the wider market absorbed the shock of the exchange hack and its aftermath.