Bitcoin Tumbles Below $30K, Crypto Prices Buckle After Altcoin Frenzy on XRP Ruling

Cryptocurrency prices cooled off Friday afternoon after Thursday's major rally on the apparent court victory for Ripple Labs and its XRP token.

Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, fell below $30,000, down more than 5% from a high of about $31,800 at one point on Thursday.

Ether (ETH) also sagged from its rousing Thursday to change hands at $1,900, a 4% decline. The second largest crypto in market value had previously soared past $2,000 to hit a three-month high.

XRP was trading at about $0.69, or down 25% from a peak of $0.93 hit yesterday. The token briefly toppled Binance’s BNB as the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market cap, but slipped back to fifth in the ranking after today's price drop.

Other major altcoins were mostly lower, including ADA and MATIC – the tokens of smart contracts platforms Cardano and Polygon, respectively – each off more than 5% Friday afternoon, though still higher over the last two days. The CoinDesk Market Index, a measure of crypto markets performance, was down about 4% over the past 24 hours.

“[Bitcoin is] still trading like an instrument in consolidation,” wrote Craig Erlam, senior market analyst for foreign exchange market maker Oanda, in an email to CoinDesk. The break above $31,000, he said, doesn't seem "particularly convincing at this stage."

The sudden drop in prices caught traders who bet on higher prices off-guard, with $155 million of long positions liquidated, according to CoinGlass data. This was the largest long liquidation in a month.

UPDATE (Jul. 14, 19:20 UTC): Updated prices through the story. Added liquidation data.