Worst week since July 2024 as privacy coin vulnerability and capital flight deepen market pressure
Cryptocurrency markets are on course for their worst week since July 2024, with Bitcoin down nearly 15% and Ether shedding more than 17% since Monday midnight UTC. The twin shocks of a Zcash exploit disclosure and a rotation of capital into artificial intelligence IPOs have compounded a structural collapse in spot trading volume, pushing Ether toward a critical support level last seen in April 2025.
Bitcoin is currently trading around $62,500, having lost 14.5% since the start of the week. Ether plunged more than 17%, with a 5.5% single-day drop on Friday following the Zcash exploit disclosure. The privacy coin itself crashed more than 30%, dragging Monero down 12% and Dash down 9% in sympathy losses. Cardano (ADA) tumbled more than 10%, while layer-one and AI tokens including FET, NEAR, and TAO fell 4% to 6%.
Ether is now approaching $1,420, the level at which it bounced in April 2025 before rallying for four months to record highs. A break below that support would expose the coin to 2022 bear market territory below $900. “The slide reflects capital rotation in light of artificial intelligence IPOs in the U.S.,” according to Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy. Onchain analysts point to a lack of spot crypto volume as a contributing factor. Spot trading volume fell to $679 billion in April, the lowest monthly figure since October 2023.
The Zcash exploit, which could have minted unlimited tokens in its shielded pool, triggered immediate repositioning across derivatives markets. Arthur Hayes, founder of BitMEX, disclosed that his firm sold its entire ZEC position. Charles Hoskinson, Cardano founder, characterized the moment as “taking a break,” signaling caution across the ecosystem.
Derivatives positioning has flipped decisively toward deleveraging. Bitcoin derivatives open interest dropped 15% to $17 billion. Deribit’s funding rate fell to minus 15% annualized, while the three-month annualized basis collapsed to 2.7% from 2.9%. Put and call volume split evenly at 50/50, and the one-week 25-delta skew doubled to 27% from 13%, indicating heavy demand for downside protection.
Liquidations totaled $1.2 billion in 24 hours, split 76% to 24% between longs and shorts. Bitcoin liquidations reached $364 million, Ether $291 million, and Zcash $107 million. The relative strength index across all crypto pairs has entered oversold territory, according to CryptoQuant data reviewed by Coinglass. The $60,900 level emerged as a core Bitcoin liquidation threshold.
Front-end implied volatility climbed to 47, reflecting elevated uncertainty. The convergence of exploit disclosure, macroeconomic capital flows, and technical breakdown has left little room for stabilization. Spot volume remains the lowest since late 2023, removing a traditional floor for price support.
