Bitcoin drops $3,000 to $62,236 as ADA gains 15% in selloff

Bitcoin fell nearly $3,000 to $62,236 on July 31, erasing $40 billion in market capitalization as total crypto market cap dropped from $2.33 trillion to $2.22 trillion.

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to hold rates steady, while the U.S. Senate's failure to pass the CLARITY Act before recess and escalating Middle East tensions compounded the selloff, according to the source material.

Ethereum closed the week down 2.6% at just over $1,860, XRP fell nearly 2%, and Solana ended down 2.7%. HYPE logged the largest decline among high-cap altcoins, dropping 12%, while RAIN also saw double-digit losses. BNB rose 2.4% and Cardano gained 15.3%, with UNI climbing 8.6%, PUMP up 16%, and BEAT up 7.2%. Total altcoin market cap fell from nearly $1.02 trillion to $964 billion.

Bitcoin's weekly slide of 2.5% left year-to-date losses near 30% as of Aug. 2, with prospects of a return to January's near-$100,000 levels dimming. Passage of the CLARITY Act before the Senate recess is seen as a potential trigger for recovery, but security concerns from recent Coldcard hacks and ongoing Middle East tensions continue to weigh on the market.

ADA Rallies 15% While HYPE Sheds 12% in Divergent Altcoin Week

Cardano's 15.3% weekly gain stood out as the strongest performer among high-cap altcoins, bucking the broader selloff. The token's resilience came as most altcoins logged losses ranging from 2% to 3% over seven days. Ethereum, which was on the cusp of breaching the $2,000 mark on July 27, closed the week down 2.6% at just over $1,860. The divergence between ADA's rally and HYPE's 12% decline highlights selective capital rotation within the altcoin market, with traders favoring assets with stronger fundamental narratives while exiting higher-beta positions.

Macro Headwinds and Security Concerns Cloud Recovery

The FOMC's decision to hold rates unchanged on July 30 did little to reassure markets, while the U.S. Senate's inability to reach a compromise on the CLARITY Act before recess added legislative uncertainty. Unresolved fighting in the Middle East, which appeared to widen after Saudi Arabia launched strikes on Yemen and drones hit Egyptian infrastructure, remains a key issue dampening hopes for a bitcoin recovery. Security concerns from recent Coldcard hardware wallet hacks, which drained over 1,000 bitcoin worth about $70 million from roughly 1,200 addresses, have also fueled market fear. Galaxy Research analysts confirmed the scale of the attack, which targeted wallets using predictable software-based key generation seeded by chip data rather than a sophisticated randomness generator.

Bitcoin maximalists still project a surge in the second half of 2026, but the combination of legislative gridlock, geopolitical instability, and hardware security vulnerabilities has made even modest end-of-year price projections difficult to achieve. The $60,000 support level remains critical — a break below it could trigger further liquidations and accelerate the selloff.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.