Max pain scenario intensifies as Bitcoin drops to $31K, altcoins sell-off

Bitcoin (BTC) and the wider cryptocurrency experienced another wave of overnight selling which deepened on May 23 as the majority of tokens pummeled to multi-month lows. The market-wide sell-off resulted in the total cryptocurrency market cap shedding another $250 billion in value to $1.33 trillion. 

The total market cap has now experienced a 46% pullback from the May 11 all-time high at $2.56 trillion, but the stunning turn of events has left the vast majority of traders scrambling to lock in any gains experienced during the run up.

This newest wave of selling pressure managed to successfully break below the $36,000 support level, sending BTC price as low as $31,000. 

Ether (ETH) was hit with a 20% drawdown in price that smashed its value back below $2,000 for the second time in a week, marking a 56% decline in its price from its all-time high at $4,362 which was established just 11 days ago on May 12.

While the magnitude of the Bitcoin pullbacks is starting to diminish following several weeks of price declines, the continued selling has hit the altcoin market hard with Sunday's price rout shaving at least 30% off a majority of the coins in the top 100 as capitulation set in for traders from around the globe.

Polkadot (DOT) fell more than 40% to a low of $14 and Solana (SOL) shed 36% of its value to hit a low at $19.

Polygon (MATIC), which reached an all-time high at $2.68 just 5 days ago, has now fallen 69% and trades below $0.84 at the time of writing.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.285 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 46.9%.

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