Summary
- Total crypto market capitalization fell 5.09% in 24 hours to $2.46 trillion.
- Zcash dropped 11.17% to $1,090.02, the day's biggest loser among major tokens.
- Initia surged 118.8% to $0.286 as traders piled into trending smaller-cap tokens.
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.46 trillion as of Monday, down 5.09% over the past 24 hours, with 24-hour trading volume reaching $71 billion across the sector's 22,793 active tokens. Bitcoin, which holds 59.7% of total market share, slid 3.25% to $72,933.79. Ethereum fell harder, down 6.16% to $2,010.36, pulling its dominance share to 10.02%. The decline followed remarks from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller indicating he would support a quarter-point rate increase at the December meeting, a comment that pushed market-implied odds of a hike to 96% and weighed on both crypto and equity futures.
Zcash led losses among established coins, falling 11.17% to $1,090.02 and 12.13% on a separate 24-hour measure in trending data, after a sharp run-up in prior sessions left it exposed to profit-taking. Other major losers included Quant, down 9.84% to $180.16, Monero, down 9.35% to $546.33, and Avalanche, down 8.93% to $8.15. Rain posted the steepest decline in the broader market, falling 17.47% to $0.00381198. Hyperliquid and Solana also retreated, down 6.31% and 7.04% respectively, as traders rotated out of higher-beta tokens tied to decentralized exchanges and layer-1 networks.
Against the broader retreat, two smaller tokens stood out for extreme gains. Initia jumped 118.8% to $0.286, and Super Inu surged 157.08% to $0.016, both drawing heavy search interest even as the rest of the market fell. Lighter also bucked the trend, rising 1.35% to $3.28. These moves contrasted sharply with declines among top-ranked coins, underscoring how speculative flows into lower-cap names persisted even as capital exited larger holdings.
Among the day's top gainers by percentage, moves were comparatively modest: Gram, the token previously known as Toncoin, rose 3.94% to $1.089, while LEO Token added 0.64% to $9.34 and stablecoin-adjacent token USDY ticked up 0.48% to $1.15. Tron gained 0.42% to $0.318883 and Pepe rose 0.25% to $0.00000529, suggesting limited risk appetite even among assets that avoided the broader sell-off.
Analysts pointed to tightening monetary-policy expectations as the dominant driver, with commentary suggesting Bitcoin could find longer-term support once global tightening cycles ease, even as near-term pressure mounts from the prospect of higher borrowing costs. Separately, Binance issued a warning about an iOS vulnerability that could expose wallet private keys, urging users to delete apps installed from unverified sources, adding a security dimension to an already volatile trading session.