$510B crypto sell-off wipes 2024 gains for top 50 coins

Over half of the 50 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization are in the red following the biggest crypto sell-off in over a year.

The crypto market saw a $510 billion drop in total market capitalization.

Following the sell-off, over 60% of the top 50 cryptocurrencies lost all the gains made during 2024, according to CryptoQuant author Binhdangg, who wrote in an Aug. 6 X post:

“After Black Monday, 60% of coins in the top 50 have removed all profit since the beginning of 2024 and even get losses.”

Following the sell-off, Ether (ETH) price briefly dipped to a five-month low below $2,200. Losing this psychological mark could invite more panic selling and downside pressure for the entire market.

What caused the crypto market sell-off?

The brutal crypto market sell-off was caused by a combination of macroeconomic and industry-specific developments.

On Aug. 5, the Bank of Japan announced that it was raising its interest rate from 0% to 0.25%.

Japan’s decision had a direct impact on the United States stock market and Bitcoin price as well, as traders borrowed Japanese yen at low interest rates to buy assets in the US market.

Meanwhile, five of the top market makers have sold a total of 130,000 Ether worth $290 million at today’s price since Aug. 3, while Ether’s price crashed from $3,000 to below $2,200.

The market makers include Wintermute, which sold over 47,000 ETH, followed by Jump Trading, with over 36,000 ETH, and Flow Traders, with 3,620 ETH, in third place.

The Ether selling from market makers has significantly contributed to Ether’s price decline.

Memecoins see the biggest loss, led by WIF and PEPE

Looking at the 50 largest tokens by market capitalization, some of this cycle’s most popular memecoins have taken the biggest loss.

On the weekly chart, Solana-based memecoin Dogwifhat (WIF) saw the biggest loss, falling over 41% during the past week, to trade at $1.38 as of 8:37 am UTC,  Aug. 6, according to Cointelegraph data.

Frog-themed memecoin Pepe (PEPE) saw the second-biggest weekly loss, falling over 34% to $0.057781, which is over 53% down from its all-time high recorded at the end of May.

Because memecoins lack intrinsic value, their price increases are primarily driven by social media hype and attention from retail investors. As a result, meme tokens are often the hardest hit during a crypto market correction.