The crypto market has now erased about $2 trillion from its late-2025 peak, and the move has fully wiped out the post-election rally that followed Donald Trump’s win. Recent market data shows total crypto market cap near $2.39 trillion, down hard from the run toward $4 trillion just a few months ago. That sharp reset has turned the crypto market from a momentum story into a risk story, and traders are now watching price and volume more than headlines.
The chart in the excerpt shows the key change clearly. The crypto market made a strong peak in late 2025, then rolled over into a series of lower highs. That pattern matters because lower highs usually mean buyers are losing strength on each bounce. The selloffs also look fast and deep, which points to forced exits and weak confidence. In plain terms, the crypto market did not just cool off. It broke structure and gave back the full move.
Volume behavior also fits that story. In major corrections, trading volume often rises during sharp drops as leveraged traders get liquidated and short-term holders rush out. Then volume fades on rebounds, which shows weaker buying pressure. That is the kind of price and volume mix traders look for in a deleveraging phase, and it helps explain why the crypto market has struggled to build a stable floor.
The broad weakness is not limited to one coin. Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana have all been part of the slide. At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades near $67,597, Ethereum near $1,953.56, XRP near $1.39, and Solana near $82.71. Those current prices show how much the crypto market has shifted from the late-2025 highs. Bitcoin still leads the crypto market by size, but leadership alone has not been enough to hold up the rest of the board.
That is where the second part of the excerpt connects with the first. The writer’s point about a weaker cycle is worth attention. In past cycles, many traders expected a bigger Bitcoin breakout and a stronger altcoin rotation. This time, Bitcoin did reach a new all-time high around $126,000, but the move still felt short versus the $180,000 to $200,000 targets many traders were calling for. When Bitcoin does not overperform for long, the crypto market often loses the fuel that usually flows into altcoins, NFTs, and smaller DeFi names.
The result is a crypto market that looks more mature in some ways, but also more fragile in others. Institutional money helped drive the upside, yet institutional flows can slow fast when macro risk rises. Retail traders, meanwhile, faced a wave of copycat projects, weak token launches, and meme-driven speculation. That hurts trust. If people lose money chasing bad narratives, they do not rotate capital the way they did in earlier bull runs. That can leave the crypto market with less depth and less follow-through.
The comments about Layer 2 fatigue and project quality also fit the bigger picture. The crypto market may not need endless new tokens if many of them add little value. In a tighter cycle, capital starts to favor proven networks, real users, and working products. That does not mean innovation is over. It means the crypto market is forcing a harder test: better tech, better governance, and clearer use cases. Projects that can adapt may survive this reset. Projects that rely only on hype may not.
There is one sign of support under the surface. Reports circulating today say Bitcoin demand has turned positive for the first time in three months, which suggests net buying is starting to absorb new supply again. That does not guarantee a fast rebound, but it can mark the early stage of stabilization. In this kind of crypto market, a base usually takes time. Price can stay range-bound while volume cools and sentiment stays weak.
So the crypto market is at an important point. The rally is gone, risk appetite is lower, and the chart still looks damaged. But deep pullbacks have always been part of the crypto market. For traders and long-term holders, the real question is whether this becomes a long reset or a fresh setup. The answer will likely come from price and volume first, then sentiment later.
