Key Notes
- Crypto market cap dropped from over $4.02 trillion to around $3.98 trillion after a massive price plunge.
- Prices of BTC, ETH, SOL, and XRP are down, following the release of US PPI data this week.
- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the government has no plans to make additional purchases of Bitcoin.
From soaring to a capitalization of over $4.02 trillion, the broader crypto market has recorded a notable drop within the last 24 hours.
Precisely, it has lost up to $133 billion in the wake of the sudden bearish switch. The major triggers suspected for these negative shifts are Scott Bessent’s remark and the US PPI data, released earlier this week.
BTC, ETH, XRP, and Others Face a Downturn
The US Producer Price Index (PPI) was released recently and showed its highest increase in three years as of July.
This is the aftermath of a surge in the costs of goods and services. The outlook suggests that a broad pickup in inflation was imminent, a likely dilemma for the Federal Reserve. In other words, it has dampened hopes for aggressive Fed rate cuts in September.
With investors spooked by this higher-than-expected reading, the crypto market saw a sharp decline. The loss of $133 billion marked the largest liquidation event that the market has seen since early August.
Consequently, the crypto market cap fell to $3.98 trillion shortly after traders took profits from Bitcoin’s record-breaking price rally.
Bitcoin BTC $117 092 24h volatility: 0.8% Market cap: $2.33 T Vol. 24h: $51.00 B has dropped from trading at an all-time high of $124,474 to around $118,133.73 at the time of writing.
Bitcoin is not the only digital asset affected by the overturn in the market. Ethereum ETH $4 404 24h volatility: 4.2% Market cap: $533.53 B Vol. 24h: $52.96 B , which was almost closing in on the $5,000 price level, has now retracted to $4,558.81.
Ripple-associated XRP XRP $3.03 24h volatility: 1.6% Market cap: $179.79 B Vol. 24h: $7.59 B is down by 0.44% and pegged at $3.09. Solana SOL $185.2 24h volatility: 4.7% Market cap: $100.18 B Vol. 24h: $9.21 B went from soaring above $201 to now trading at $191.01, down by 2% in 24 hours.
Even the CoinDesk 20 Index of the largest cryptocurrencies slipped by 2.1% over the 24 hours.
On the basis of these price actions, massive liquidations were recorded, with more than $1 billion in leveraged trading positions wiped out in 24 hours.
Considering the market outlook from earlier in the week, more long traders were hit the most by the crypto liquidation.
US Treasury Secretary Says Government Is Not Buying More Bitcoin
Former hedge fund manager and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent may have also made a statement that was unfavorable to the Bitcoin rally.
On Thursday, the billionaire sat in an interview with Fox Business and stated that the United States government had no plans to make additional purchases of Bitcoin for its strategic reserve and separate digital asset stockpile.
“We’ve also started to get into the 21st century, a Bitcoin reserve. We’re not going to be buying that, but we are going to use confiscated assets and continue to build that up,” Bessent emphasized.
According to the secretary, the US Bitcoin reserve is valued between $15 billion and $20 billion, based on the $120,000 price level at the time. However, shortly after his statement, Bitcoin’s price experienced a sharp decline.
While he has shared another bullish statement on the coin in a follow-up X post, the market is yet to recover from the selloff.
nextBitcoin that has been finally forfeited to the federal government will be the foundation of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve that President Trump established in his March Executive Order.
In addition, Treasury is committed to exploring budget-neutral pathways to acquire more…
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) August 14, 2025
