Crypto Has Bitcoin Alternatives to Sell You as the Coin's Price Slips Below $90,000

Bitcoin is a huge part of the crypto market, accounting for more than half of its overall value. Yet the proliferation of other products—such as spot ETFs holding altcoins, some of which have double-digit year-to-date gains—could attract investors looking for alternatives.

Coinbase Global (COIN), the largest U.S. public crypto exchange, earlier this week debuted its revamped ICO platform—a marketplace for the crypto industry's version of IPOs—with the launch of Monad's token sale.1 CoinMarketCap, meanwhile, launched a crypto index token.2

Also, the pace of spot altcoin ETF debuts has quickened in the last few weeks, owed in part to the Securities and Exchange Commission's new standards for coin fund listings.

Asset managers big and small are in the mix: There's Fidelity Solana Fund (FSOL), Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL), and Canary Capital XRP ETF (XRPC). There's 21Shares FTSE Crypto 10 Index ETF (TTOP), a fund of funds that tracks bitcoin as well as other coins including memes like doge (DOGEUSD) and decentralized exchange Hyperliquid's token (HYPEUSD), and the 21shares FTSE Crypto 10 ex-BTC Index ETF (TXBC), a version sans bitcoin.

ETFs linked to baskets of coins that have huge slugs of bitcoin may be a tough sell in these markets, but single altcoin funds could find life yet. While bitcoin is down 2% year-to-date, altcoin performance has been mixed: Ether and sol are down 8% and 27%, respectively, according to Messari research. But Binance's native token (BNBUSD) is up 30%, and Hyperliquid's token roughly 60%, over the same period.

• Bitcoin's drop below $90,000 has wiped out $478 million in leveraged positions, with longs contributing over 90% to the total liquidations.
• Major altcoins like Dogecoin, Bonk, Pepe, and ZCash, which posted double-digit gains in the first week, have followed top crypto’s lead and tanked.
• Analysts attribute the decline to fading early-year momentum, a risk-off macro mood ahead of U.S. jobs data, and short-term headwinds from Bitcoin ETF outflows.

As a result of the top crypto’s downward move, total liquidations over the past 24 hours have exceeded $477 million, according to CoinGlass data. Bulls who rode the optimism, expecting the momentum to continue, are now paying the price, as longs account for over 90% of total liquidations.

Ethereum and XRP are down 3.9% and 7.6%, respectively, while meme coins like Pepe and Bonk, which nearly doubled in the first week of 2026, are now down 6.6% and 8%.

“Bitcoin’s move below $90,000 reflects fading momentum from the early-year boost,” Illia Otychenko, Lead Analyst at CEX.IO, told Decrypt. “Fresh allocations at the start of 2026 and supportive geopolitical headlines helped initially, but they were not strong enough to sustain a rally.”

Other analysts point to a confluence of headwinds.

“Despite a strong start to 2026 and positive structural developments... Bitcoin has struggled to sustain a move above the $90,000 level—and there are several drivers behind this price movement,” Wenny Cai, COO at SynFutures, told Decrypt.

She cited broader risk-off sentiment across global markets, where investors are awaiting key macro data like U.S. jobs reports, which have kept risk appetite muted. “This risk-off behavior has been reflected in Bitcoin’s trading ranges near the low-$90Ks and occasional dips below $90K,” Cai said.

As a result, the investor sentiment remains relatively low. Users on prediction market Myriad, owned by Decrypt's parent company Dastan, reflected this behavior, assigning only a 24.5% chance that Bitcoin hits a new all-time high before July.

Otychenko added that the recent pullback was reinforced by renewed spot exchange-traded fund outflows, highlighting the U.S. Bitcoin ETFs’ $243 million outflow.

Cai concurred, noting that while a long-term positive, “ETF flows—while a structural positive—have recently acted as a headwind in the short term,” reducing immediate buying pressure.

“Crypto market liquidity remains thin, resulting in choppy price action,” according to Otychenko, who believes that the outlook could improve with Bitcoin bouncing following the U.S. jobs data tomorrow.

Cai highlighted the same liquidity issue, noting conditions are “thinner than that in prior bull phases,” which can exaggerate downside moves even when fundamental demand is intact.