Cryptocurrencies shed $250B in value this week, CoinMarketCap data shows

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It was a tough week for cryptocurrencies as the assets lost $250B in market value amid the unraveling of leveraged bets and a massive crypto options expiry event on Friday.

Data from CoinMarketCap showed that the total market cap of cryptocurrencies stood at $4.03T on September 19, compared to $3.78T on September 26, a week later.

The world's two largest cryptocurrencies, bitcoin (BTC-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BTC-USD]) and ethereum (ETH-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ETH-USD]), also fared poorly for the week. BTC-USD retreated -5.2%, while ETH-USD slumped -9.7%.

The selloff in crypto came amid the liquidation of more than $3B in long positions across exchanges, Bloomberg News said on Friday, citing data compiled by Coinglass.

Meanwhile, Friday also saw one of the biggest quarterly expiration events on record. According to crypto options and futures exchange Deribit, more than $22.3B in options expired on Friday, including bitcoin (BTC-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BTC-USD]) options with a notional value of $17.06B and ethereum (ETH-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ETH-USD]) options with a notional value of $5.20B.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BTC-USD]) was last trading -0.2% at $109,486.72, while ethereum (ETH-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ETH-USD]) was -0.9% at $3,998.86.

Here are some crypto-related exchange-traded funds of interest: (NASDAQ:IBIT [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/IBIT]), (BATS:ARKB [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ARKB]), (NYSEARCA:GBTC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GBTC]), (NASDAQ:BRRR [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BRRR]), (BATS:BTCO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BTCO]), (BATS:HODL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/HODL]), (BATS:BTCW [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BTCW]), (BATS:FBTC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FBTC]), (NYSEARCA:BITB [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BITB]), (BATS:EZBC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EZBC]), (NYSEARCA:BITQ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BITQ]), (NASDAQ:DAPP [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DAPP]), (NASDAQ:BKCH [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BKCH]), (NYSEARCA:BLOK [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BLOK]), (NYSEARCA:CRPT [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CRPT]), and (NYSEARCA:IBLC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/IBLC]).

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