Crypto Altcoins Lead Slide While Bitcoin Liquidations Increase
(Bloomberg) — Crypto traders are taking a more defensive posture amid speculation long-term holders are offloading tokens with Bitcoin trading just below all-time highs.
The largest cryptocurrency by market value was down about 2% to $116,200 on Friday, or around 5.7% below the record of more than $123,000 reached on July 14. Smaller tokens fared worse, with XRP and Dogecoin both down more than 5%.
The pullback has cooled expectations that so-called alternative digital currencies are poised to outperform the market bellwether following its recent record breaking run.
Close to $400 million in long positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours — Bitcoin leading the cuts with $159 million, according to data compiled by…
