After a euphoric weekend that saw Bitcoin surpass $1 trillion in market cap and Ether surge past $2,000, w/c Monday 22 Feb kicked off with an abrupt change in mood in the crypto markets.

With the exception of a handful of digital assets such as NEM, SOL and DAI, cryptoassets across the board have tanked aggressively.

On Monday, Bitcoin traded within a record-setting $10,877 range after falling from its all-time high above $58,000 set over the weekend. The flagship crypto is now trading around $47K.

Ethereum also witnessed a massive pullback, dropping more than 18% from its weekend highs. Elsewhere in the cryptocurrency market, high-cap coins such as BNB, DOT, and LINK also fell by similar margins.

Ralph Payne, CFO at Copper, believes a sharp correction of this magnitude should not come as much of a surprise. He commented: “We have seen the crypto market leap from around $850bn in late January to about $1.8trillion over the weekend. There is no asset that will ever just shoot up in a straight line without a pullback."

"This market correction, like those before, does not come as a surprise given the stretched funding positions across many derivatives exchanges. In the medium term, those who can stomach the volatility that comes with digital assets could be set for larger gains, as these corrections will not be seen as so significant in the context of a continued rally.”