Monero’s Market Meltdown: Privacy, Panic, and a $2.1B Vanish

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Privacy-obsessed crypto assets exploded to record highs in the fourth quarter, with Zcash strutting to the front like it’s the lead in a glossy heist movie. 💎🔒

Everyone chasing a clean story in a messy market? Capital swanned into privacy coins while the rest of the garden party froze. Monero, bless its heart, barely even wiggled during the surge.

Then the mood shifted – Zcash leadership drama, rotation, and a collective eye-roll from investors. As AMBCrypto whispered the plot, funds peeled away from ZEC and started drifting into Monero [XMR]. Oh, the irony. 🤷‍♀️

Monero cools its jets amid capital rotation

It sprinted to a cheeky all‑time high of $800, did a graceful stumble, and landed at a local low of $657. 🏃‍♂️💨

At the time of writing, XMR traded at $674, down 2.43% on the daily chart. Before this little wobble, it had been riding a 47% weekly climb like a caffeinated cat. 🐈☕

Meanwhile, Monero’s market cap shed from a high of $14.5 billion to $12.4 billion-a $2.1 billion exit, as if a fancy party ran out of canapés and everyone left in slow motion. 🥂➡️❄️

Why did Monero slip?

Monero took a mild step back as sellers flooded in and funds did a grand exit. Long-term holders and short-term traders both decided to cash in their chips, because apparently drama is exhausting. 😅

CoinGlass data shows Spot Netflow turning positive at $5.4 million on January 15, then fumbling to ‑$362,000 the very next day. Classic twinned plot twist. 🧭

Such a swing screams downside pressure-the kind that makes you check your portfolio and wonder if you locked the door on the way out. Usually, big inflows to exchanges foreshadow prices heading south, and yes, we’re listening to the plot twists. 🤯

The futures side mirrored the mood: investors trimmed exposure. At press time, Futures Inflows collapsed from $1.7 billion to $285.9 million, while Outflows rose to $287.79 million. Dramatic, darling.

As a result, Futures Netflow plunged 106.59% to -$1.89 million from $41 million just three days earlier. Talk about a mood swing. 🌀

Monero whales jump into Futures

Funny how things pivot: as the market retraced, whales leaped into the Futures arena, opening both short and long positions at what felt like a discount. whales, am I right? 🐳

According to Onchain Lens, one whale dropped $3 million into HyperLiquid and opened 5x short positions on 1,838.06 XMR worth $1.27 million. Another whale funneled $2.27 million into HyperLiquid and opened a long XMR position with 2x leverage. When whales do that, it smells like maximizing upside once the retrace ends. 🐳💼

Is this a mere pullback for XMR?

Monero rose as capital rotated out of Zcash and into XMR and other privacy-friendly coins. Then the tides turned; sellers showed up with gusto, and the bullish structure softened like a damp cardigan. 🧥💧

At press time, the RSI slid from 87 to 79, a little seller emergent on the scene. The Stochastic Momentum Index also croaked a bearish crossover, dropping from 86 to 52, signaling stronger downside pressure. 🙃📉

These conditions put XMR in a dodgy spot for more losses. If selling keeps up, we could be sliding toward $518. But with momentum, you know the drill: rebounds happen, and $754 could be back on the menu if the stars align and the martini glass refills. 🍸✨

Final Thoughts

  • Monero slid from its $800 ATH to a low of $657, then nudged back to $674 at press time. Dramatic energy! 🔄
  • XMR retraced after a fiery rally as profit takers emerged and futures contracts trimmed exposure. Plot twist: it’s not over yet. 🌀

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2026-01-16 14:42