Bitcoin Tumbles as ADA, SOL, and XRP Lose 5%, but Dip Buyers Remain Active

Bitcoin Drops 2% as Market Sell-Off Hits Altcoins; ETF Unwinding Blamed for Decline

Bitcoin (BTC) kicked off the week with a 2% drop, leading to broader market weakness as altcoins fell by as much as 5%, according to CoinDesk Indices data.

BTC tested $84,000 resistance on Sunday but failed to break through, settling around $83,300 by Monday afternoon in Asia.

Altcoins Slide, Except for BNB

Leading altcoins Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), XRP, and Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped up to 5%, mirroring Bitcoin’s decline. Meanwhile, BNB Chain (BNB) defied the trend, rising 3% and standing out as the only major crypto in the green.

Macroeconomic Concerns Keep Crypto Under Pressure

Crypto markets have struggled to gain momentum following last week’s sell-off, which was largely attributed to U.S. tariffs and growing fears of an economic slowdown.

Traders remain cautious as crypto assets continue to move in lockstep with U.S. equities, signaling potential choppiness ahead. Some analysts, however, see this flat market regime as an opportunity for altcoins and memecoins to shine.

“Altcoin trading volumes have picked up after Trump’s World Liberty Financial acquired MNT and AVAX,” said Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, in a Telegram message. “Since AVAX is also included in VanEck’s ETF application, traders may be shifting toward altcoins for stronger short-term gains compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum.”

Hedge Fund ‘Multi-Strat’ Strategies Likely Behind the Sell-Off

Some analysts attribute the recent price drop to an unwinding of ETF-linked trades and hedge fund strategies.

“There’s growing belief that this sell-off is being driven by large multi-strategy hedge funds,” said Augustine Fan, Head of Insights at SignalPlus, in a message to CoinDesk.

Multi-strategy (multi-strat) funds use a mix of arbitrage, long-short positions, and leverage to optimize returns across different asset classes.

A popular strategy for Bitcoin is the basis trade, where funds buy spot BTC (often via ETFs) while shorting BTC futures to profit from price spreads. When these spreads tighten and profits shrink, funds exit en masse, leading to selling pressure across Bitcoin and ETF holdings.

This forced selling, combined with ongoing market uncertainty due to tariffs, has likely fueled recent declines.

Dip Buyers Still Active

Despite the sell-off, some investors remain confident in a market rebound.

“Outside of large-cap stocks, equity valuations are still reasonable by historical standards,” Fan added. “With economic data holding up better than expected, many traders still see this as a ‘buy the dip’ environment, even as we navigate tariff-induced volatility.”