$500 Million Longs Liquidated as Cardano, Theta and Polygon Tokens Bleed More Than 15%

The ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia escalated quickly in the early hours of Thursday. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had ordered Russian troops to cross into Ukraine in what he described as a ‘special military operation’ to protect ‘people who have suffered from abuse and genocide from the Kyiv regime.’

Reports making rounds on social media also reveal that there have been missiles attacks on Ukraine. This news spooked several financial markets, including the volatile cryptocurrency sector.

The crypto market has plunged further on Thursday, with many top crypto assets taking a hit. Bitcoin, the pioneer crypto, has fallen over 7.85% in the last 24 hours. It is now trading at around $35,610, according to Messari data. Ether’s 10% tumble in the same period has seen it slide from yesterday’s close of $2,590 to $2,440 at press time.

The situation is worse for some other altcoins.

Cardano (ADA) loses seventh spot to Solana

Cardano’s ADA has posted the biggest slump among the top ten cryptocurrencies. ADA shed over 16%, crashing to a 58-week low of $0.7528 earlier. The token is currently changing hands at $0.78 – almost 75% below its all-time high of $3.10. ADA’s market capital has taken a serious beating to $26.19 billion.

Following the heavy loss, the token has relinquished seventh place to Solana, whose equivalent figure is $26.33 billion. The market uncertainty puts ADA in a difficult position, with market analysts opining that the token is far from making a recovery, let alone embarking on a rally.

To learn more about Cardano, visit our Investing in Cardano guide.

Terra (LUNA) and Solana (SOL) have posted relatively smaller red candles

Prior to Thursday’s crash, LUNA traded in the green on the back of bullish news around its recently formed Luna Foundation Guard. Even as markets struggled to recover on Wednesday, LUNA consistently showed resilience, moving contrary to the market.

However, the upward momentum fueled by the establishment of a Bitcoin-denominated reserve for its stablecoins hasn’t saved it from the market-wide pullback. Amid the Ukraine crisis, LUNA has fallen 8.20% on the day erasing yesterday’s gains. Meanwhile, SOL has seen 24hr loss of 9.22% and is currently trading at $82.41.

SOL and LUNA losses are significantly lower compared to other cryptocurrencies. Except for Bitcoin, no other crypto asset in the top ten has recorded single-digit losses besides the two. Solana has also eclipsed Cardano in market rankings as the latter has bled aggressively.

To learn more about Terra or Solana visit our guides on Investing in Terra or Investing in Solana.

Theta (THETA) and Polygon (MATIC) have been dealt with a huge blow

Theta Network’s utility token THETA has equally been on a severe downtrend. Its price has fallen by 17% in the last 24 hours to $2.39. Overall, the token has lost almost 35% since last week and is trading 85% below its summit.

Polygon’s MATIC is another casualty that has been hit hard. Since yesterday, the token has hemorrhaged nearly 15% and is now holding onto $1.30 support. The 24% descent over the last seven days has pushed its price 55% off its record high.

To learn more about Polygon or Theta visit our guides on Investing in Polygon or Investing in Theta.

More than $498 million liquidated

The combined total cryptocurrency market capital has reduced dramatically. The figure currently stands at $1.600 trillion – down from $1.909 trillion last Thursday as per CoinMarketCap data.

The latest market drawdown has seen selling pressure mount immensely. Liquidation data from crypto futures trading & information platform Coinglass shows that almost $500 million worth of previously opened positions across exchanges have been closed in the last 24 hours.

Ether has the second-largest liquidation behind Bitcoin, with north of $139.20 million longs liquidated within this period. It is followed by LUNA with $15.07 million and Solana with $13.57million. ADA, MATIC, and AVAX have seen $7.77 million, $7.27 million, and $6.49 million worth of orders liquidated.