Altcoins have suffered more in the crypto market following the Bitcoin price crash, leaving a lot of investors in losses. This is not out of the ordinary as these altcoins are known to have a higher volatility compared to Bitcoin, hence, their price swings can be more pronounced. Given the recent decline, the expectation is that the altcoins will recover. However, one analyst does not agree with that assessment.
Altcoins Headed For 40% Crash
In an analysis posted on X (formerly Twitter), seasoned crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen shocked the crypto community with his expectations for altcoins. According to the analysis, the worst is far from over for the altcoin market, as there are still more crashes to come.
Cowen explained that this was analyzed using altcoins versus Bitcoin pairs, and it seems each one looks weak against the apex cryptocurrency. This is due to the expected rate cuts, and historical performance suggests that a decline will follow.
The crypto analyst pointed to the 2019 rate cuts and how altcoins had reacted to that development back then. Following the rate cuts, altcoins plunged against Bitcoin, with major players recording up to 40% losses during this time. “Perhaps this time is not different? This would mean ALT/BTC pairs drop another 40% from here over the next few months,” Cowen said.
Cowen expects this to place out regardless of what happens in the market in the meantime. He explains that even if the market does recover in the short term, it does not invalidate the thesis. “Short-term countertrends do not invalidate this view,” he stated.
If this repeats, then it could turn an already harsh market trend even bloodier. The altcoin market cap has already fallen below $1 trillion as of the time of writing, but a 40% decline from here could send it as low as $600 billion.
Bitcoin Crash Drags Down Crypto Market
While the Bitcoin crash has been brutal, the impact on altcoins has been much more pronounced. Ethereum has held up nicely with less than a 4% decline during this time, but others such as Stacks (STX), Arweave (AR), Neo (NEO), and Sei (SEI) are down an average of 9% in the last 24 hours.
Meme coins were also not left out of the bloodbath, with market leader Dogecoin dropping 6% to $0.126 and Pepe (PEPE) plunging 7.74% to $0.0000063. Bonk (BONK) recorded a 5% decline to eliminate some of its gains from last week, and Shiba Inu fell 4.18%.
Amid all of this, though, there have been some market winners, with Optimism (OP) recording 12% gains. Cosmos (ATOM) followed with a 9.8% increase, and Starknet (STRK) rose 9%, making them the top gainers of the day, according to data from Coinmarketcap.
Altcoin market cap at $952 billion | Source: Altcoin total market cap from Tradingview.com