Crypto Winter Hopes Fade as More Than $200 Billion Wiped Off Market Cap in Less Than a Month

A fresh chill is blowing through the cryptocurrency market. Hopes had risen that a recent price rebound would help digital assets emerge from crypto winter, but more than $200 billion in market capitalization has disappeared in less than a month. The recovery has stalled as money flowing into spot exchange-traded funds has reversed and inflation worries tied to high oil prices have added pressure.

Data from CoinMarketCap on Oct. 23 showed the market’s total capitalization had fallen to about $2.68 trillion from more than $2.9 trillion recently. That marks a decline of more than 7% over the past month.

The market cap had at one point dropped to around $2.7 trillion, then tried to recover as it neared $2.8 trillion. But it failed to sustain the rebound and slipped back below $2.7 trillion.

Bitcoin is also coming under pressure near the $80,000 level. On Binance’s Tether market, Bitcoin was trading at about $80,850, down roughly 1.3% from a day earlier. Ether also fell about 1.3% to around $2,380, dropping below $2,400.

ETF flows are also wavering. According to Farside Investors, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of about $1.075 billion from Oct. 19 to Oct. 21. But on Oct. 22 alone, they posted net outflows of about $636 million. That means roughly 60% of the money that came in over the three-day period left in a single session. Spot Ether ETFs also saw about $111 million in outflows the same day.

The market is now focused on the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Oct. 27-28. Any rebound will need support from easing concern over the interest-rate path and a revival in ETF buying.