Ethereum, Solana and Gaming Tokens Are Falling Fast as Crypto Slump Continues

The crypto market continues to suffer following this month’s wider crash, with top coins hitting low prices not seen in more than a year. The overall market is down 4% today as coins like Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) have posted larger declines, plus gaming and metaverse tokens are seeing significant dips.

Ethereum has dropped 7% over the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap, and is currently at a price of $1,749. It fell even further to $1,727 over the past day, dipping to a low not seen since March 2021.

At the time early last year, Ethereum’s price was on the rise and setting new all-time highs—a much different scenario than right now. Ethereum has shed 37% of its value over the last 30 days, and is now down 64% from its peak price of $4,892 set last November.

Ethereum has suffered through technical issues this week via a significant blockchain “reorganization” process on the Beacon chain, which will help Ethereum transition to a more energy-efficient model via the upcoming “Merge.” Concerns over the migration may have prompted Ethereum’s price action, leading to over $157 million worth of liquidations.

Solana is another top coin that’s on the decline today, now down 9% over the past 24 hours to a current price of $42. It went as low as $40 earlier today—the lowest point for SOL since the coin surged in value in August during a bull market.

Like Ethereum, Solana has faced its own technical hitch this week. Overnight, the network reported that its clock was off by approximately 30 minutes due to longer-than-normal block times.

Solana Labs co-founder Raj Gokal tweeted that the time disparity was normal and has “never actually affected anything,” and suggested that editorial coverage of the issue was “getting into tabloid territory.” However, leading Solana NFT marketplace Magic Eden tweeted yesterday that the clock slippage had negatively impacted a new NFT mint on its platform.

Other notable coins in the top 20 by total market cap that are suffering today include Cardano (ADA), down 7% to $0.46, and Avalanche (AVAX), down 9% to under $23.

Meanwhile, gaming and metaverse tokens are widely down over the past day, following the lead of “move-to-earn” game STEPN, which saw its tokens lose significant value as the Solana-based game announced that it will block Chinese users due to regulations.

ApeCoin, the Ethereum-based token of the Bored Ape Yacht Club ecosystem and upcoming Otherside metaverse game, has lost 11% over the past 24 hours at a current price above $6. Axie Infinity’s AXS token is down 9% to about $18.40, Gala Games (GALA) has dipped 8% to $0.07, and Decentraland is likewise down 8% to $0.95.

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