Crypto Market Retreats After Weeks of Uptrend, Major Tokens Drop

• Crypto market capitalization dropped 3.5% in the past 24 hours following a decline in U.S. equity markets.
• Ether and dogecoin led the slide among major tokens, falling more than 5%, while bitcoin lost just 1.6%.
• Outside of majors, avalanche (AVAX) fell 7.7% while lido (LDO) dropped over 10%.

The crypto market has been taking a breather in the past 24 hours after weeks of an uptrend. Market capitalization dropped 3.5%, following a decline in U.S. equity markets, with Ether and dogecoin leading the slide.

Ether and dogecoin fell more than 5%, while bitcoin lost just 1.6%, according to CoinDesk data. This caused upward of $173 million in longs, or bets on higher token prices, to be liquidated. Ether futures saw $86 million in liquidations while traders of bitcoin futures lost $46 million, per data source Coinglass.

Outside of majors, avalanche (AVAX) fell 7.7% while lido (LDO) dropped over 10%. This was a marked shift from the previous month, where Lido had seen a 135% jump in value. Meanwhile, some tokens traded in the green, including those of interoperable blockchain platform Quant (QNT) and layer 1 network Aptos (APT), with both rising over 4%.

The pullback appears to be a much-needed bull breather, following a notable upswing in the crypto market. This was largely driven by strength in bitcoin and strong transactional activity among tokens such as SOL and ADA.

The crypto market has seen a surprising amount of stability over the past few months, with market capitalization remaining relatively steady despite the recent pullback. This could be a sign of market maturity, as traders become more comfortable with the idea of crypto as an investment asset.