Crypto Carnage: $6B Liquidated, BTC and ETH Plunge in Brutal Week

The crypto market lost $240 billion this week as bitcoin, ethereum, and XRP posted steep declines.

Bitcoin Leads Downturn

The crypto economy closed another turbulent week, with total market capitalization falling from $4.12 trillion to $3.88 trillion. Bitcoin (BTC) led the downturn, dropping from around $115,700 on Sept. 20 to $109,500 by Sept. 27 at 1:30 p.m. EST. The top cryptocurrency’s 5.5% weekly loss made it one of the worst performers during the period.

Ethereum ( ETH), which traded above $4,400 at the start of the week, ended 11% lower at $3,992—its first time below $4,000 since Aug. 8. Like bitcoin, ETH was weighed down by the bearish sentiment that gripped the market since Monday. Not even fresh reports of additional ETH acquisitions by Bitmine Immersion—a move typically seen as a bullish signal—could stem the tide of selling pressure. The market’s bearish momentum proved too strong, dragging ETH to an intraday low of $3,846 on Sept. 25, its weakest level in weeks despite institutional interest.

XRP, still struggling to regain momentum after hitting an all-time high (ATH) of $3.66 in July, closed the week nearly 7% lower, trading just under $2.79. While some analysts and technical indicators suggest a potential rally that could push XRP past its ATH, recent price action paints a more cautious picture. XRP’s decline, meanwhile, allowed the stablecoin USDT to solidify its position as the third-largest digital asset by market capitalization.

Altcoin Losses and Outliers

BNB, which reached an ATH of $1,079 on Sept. 21, mirrored the broader market’s movement, falling 5.3% over the week to close at $968. Several altcoins suffered double-digit losses, including SOL (–16%), DOGE (–14%), ADA (–12.8%), and HYPE (–18.1%). However, a few altcoins bucked the trend, with ASTER and MYX posting gains of 59.4% and 32.4%, respectively.

Meanwhile, the week proved brutal for leveraged traders, with billions wiped out. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, approximately $1.7 billion in long and short positions were liquidated on Sept. 22 alone—the largest single-day liquidation event of 2025. Three days later, another $1 billion in contracts were erased.

Coinglass data shows that more than $6 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated over the week, with long contracts accounting for the majority of the losses.