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May 18, 2026

Crypto News | HYPE Defies Altcoin Crash as BTC Dips Below $77K: Market Watch Jordan Lyanchev | usagoldmines.com

Bitcoin’s troubles only intensified as the legacy financial markets started to open during the night, with the asset dipping to a new multi-week low of under $77,000.

Most altcoins have followed suit with painful declines from ETH, DOGE, and especially BCH. On the contrary, HYPE and ZEC have defied the crash.

BTC Below $77K

The previous business week was significantly more bullish for the primary cryptocurrency. It began with some volatility on Sunday that included a dip below $80,400, but it quickly rebounded and gained $2,000 in minutes. Although it was stopped there at first, BTC returned to the $82,000 level on Tuesday, only to be halted once again.

This correction was more painful and pushed it south to under $79,000 on Wednesday. The bulls took the upper hand on Thursday after the CLARITY Act passed the US Senate Banking Committee, and bitcoin returned to $82,000. However, this turned out to be another fakeout, and the subsequent rejections have been quite brutal.

The asset fell to under $80,000 by Saturday and down to $78,000 on Sunday. After spending 24 hours fighting to stay above that support, it gave in on Monday morning after Trump’s latest threats against Iran. Bitcoin dropped to $76,500 for the first time in roughly three weeks, and currently stands below $77,000.

Its market capitalization is down to $1.540 trillion on CG, while its dominance over the alts remains above 58%.

BTCUSD May 18. Source: TradingView
BTCUSD May 18. Source: TradingView

HYPE Up, Most Down

Ethereum is close to breaking below $2,100 after another 3% drop on a daily scale. BNB is down to $640 after a 2% decline, while XRP is under $1.40 following a similar dip. DOGE has plunged by over 5% daily, while BCH has plummeted by more than 11% and now struggles at $365.

With most other alts in the red, there are two evident exceptions – HYPE and ZEC. The former has soared past $45, while the latter stands at around $530. Pi Network’s native token continues to dig new local lows, dumping below $0.15 earlier today.

The total crypto market cap has shed another $50 billion and is down to $2.630 trillion as of press time.

Cryptocurrency Market Overview May 18. Source: QuantifyCrypto
Cryptocurrency Market Overview May 18. Source: QuantifyCrypto

 

The post HYPE Defies Altcoin Crash as BTC Dips Below $77K: Market Watch appeared first on CryptoPotato.

  In contrast, BCH and PI have dumped the most from the large- and mid-cap alts. Crypto News, Market Updates, social, Top News 

This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak

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