Market Downturn Deepens for Top Cryptocurrencies
In the unforgiving arena of cryptocurrency, where fortunes flip faster than a memecoin pump, the latest market snapshot paints a grim portrait of prolonged pain. As of November 6, 2025, data from Galaxy Research reveals that more than half of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap are languishing at least 72% below their all-time highs (ATHs). This isn’t just a fleeting dip—it’s a seismic reckoning that underscores the sector’s maturation pains and the ghosts of 2021’s euphoric bull run still haunting portfolios.
Over 50% of the top 100 cryptocurrencies are down at least 72% from their all-time highs, signaling a brutal bear market hangover.
Altcoin Heavyweights Face Steepest Declines
At the epicenter of this downturn are the altcoins that once promised moonshots but now embody cautionary tales. Filecoin (FIL), the decentralized storage darling, has nosedived over 90% from its April 2021 peak, squeezed by sluggish adoption and competition from cloud giants like AWS. Internet Computer (ICP), Dfinity’s ambitious blockchain-for-the-web play, fares even worse, down a staggering 95% amid scalability critiques and a post-ICO reality check. Graph (GRT), the indexing protocol that’s the “Google of blockchains,” isn’t spared either, slumping 85% as DeFi hype cools and query volumes stagnate. These aren’t isolated flops; they reflect broader altcoin woes, where speculative fervor has evaporated, leaving fundamentals to fend for themselves in a risk-off environment.
Altcoin heavyweights FIL, ICP, and GRT suffer the steepest drops, exceeding 80% in some cases.
Galaxy Research reports that 72 of the top 100 cryptocurrencies remain over 50% below their all-time highs. FIL, ICP, and GRT show the steepest declines among major tokens, while others like DOT, AVAX, and ADA also fell sharply. Only a few assets including BTC, LEO, ETH, and BNB… pic.twitter.com/F7iritPAkC
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) November 6, 2025
Blue-Chips Show Greater Resilience
Not all tokens are created equal in this carnage. Layer-1 contenders like Polkadot (DOT), Avalanche (AVAX), and Cardano (ADA) have taken sharp hits—down 75-80%—but their losses pale in comparison to the outliers. DOT’s interoperability vision, AVAX’s high-throughput subnets, and ADA’s research-driven ethos have provided some ballast, buoyed by ongoing ecosystem builds. Even more resilient are the incumbents: Bitcoin (BTC) hovers at a modest 35% below its $69,000 ATH, a testament to its store-of-value narrative amid ETF inflows and halving afterglow. Ethereum (ETH), despite upgrade delays, clocks in at 40% off peaks, propped by layer-2 scaling and staking yields. Stablecoins like Tether (but wait, LEO from Bitfinex) and Binance Coin (BNB) show sub-30% drawdowns, their utility in trading and DeFi anchoring them against the tide.
Blue-chips like BTC, ETH, and BNB weather the storm better, with losses under 40% from peaks.
Market Dynamics and Investor Lessons
This disparity isn’t mere coincidence; it’s a Darwinian cull. The 2022 crypto winter, exacerbated by FTX’s implosion and macro headwinds like Fed hikes, has weeded out the weak. Regulatory scrutiny—from SEC crackdowns on staking to EU’s MiCA—adds friction, while Bitcoin’s dominance (now ~55%) siphons liquidity from alts. Yet, glimmers of hope persist: on-chain metrics show rising active addresses for ETH and SOL, and institutional interest via BlackRock’s IBIT ETF signals maturation.
For investors, the lesson is etched in red ink—diversification isn’t just about spreading bets; it’s about betting on moats. As we eye Q4 2025, with potential rate cuts and election-year optimism, a selective rebound could reward the patient. But until then, this top-100 bloodletting serves as a sober reminder: in crypto, highs are fleeting, but lows? They linger.