USDT Flips Ethereum Briefly as ETH Crashes 5.2% to Year Lows

Ethereum got absolutely wrecked Thursday. Price dropped 5.2% in 24 hours, touching $1,510 on Coinbase at one point.

Written by: Sophia Cruz • Friday, June 26, 2026 • 2 min read

• Last updated: Friday, June 26, 2026

Quick overview

Ethereum's price dropped 5.2% in 24 hours, falling to $1,510 and pushing its market cap below $185 billion.
During the crash, Tether's USDT briefly surpassed Ethereum in market cap, highlighting the severity of the selloff.
Ethereum quickly recovered to a market cap of $189.1 billion, but the incident underscores the fragile sentiment in the market.
The broader cryptocurrency market remains weak, with institutional outflows and bearish technical indicators suggesting potential further declines.

Ethereum got absolutely wrecked Thursday. Price dropped 5.2% in 24 hours, touching $1,510 on Coinbase at one point. That sent market cap below $185 billion for the first time in months.

The crash was so violent that Tether’s USDT, a stablecoin that literally doesn’t move in price, briefly flipped Ethereum to become the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. USDT hit $186 billion in market value while ETH was tanking. That’s how bad the selloff got – a stablecoin overtook an entire blockchain because holders were dumping ETH that hard.

But it didn’t last. ETH bounced back pretty quick. CoinGecko data now shows Ethereum recovered to $189.1 billion market cap, sitting above USDT’s $186 billion again. So the flip lasted just hours before support kicked in and buyers stepped back in.

The symbolism matters though. Having a stablecoin briefly sit above one of the largest blockchain networks signals how brutal the selling pressure was. When people are fleeing an asset so fast that they’ll accept a stable token trading at a premium just to get out, something’s seriously broken in sentiment.

ETH’s been struggling all month. The broader cryptocurrency market’s been weak. When Bitcoin wobbles, Ethereum typically gets hit harder because it trades on emotion and adoption narratives rather than scarcity like Bitcoin does. Sentiment swings hit ETH way more violently.

Institutional flows have been terrible. ETF outflows continue. On-chain metrics show whales taking profits or getting margin-called on leveraged positions. The technical picture turned bearish when ETH couldn’t hold above key resistance levels.

This isn’t the first time a stablecoin briefly flipped a major crypto asset by market cap. It happens during crashes when volatility explodes and the selling becomes indiscriminate. But it’s rare enough to stand out and usually signals capitulation among nervous holders.

The question now is whether ETH stabilizes or slides lower. Break $185 billion market cap and old support levels come into play. Hold here and maybe a bounce actually sustains. Right now it’s just bouncing off panic lows without any conviction behind it.

Crypto ranking shifts get attention in headlines but they’re usually noise during volatile periods. What matters is whether ETH’s fundamentals justify the market cap or whether more selling is coming. The last few months suggest more selling until sentiment genuinely changes.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR See More

Sophia Cruz

Financial Writer - Asian & European Desks

Sophia is an experienced writer, reporter and newsdesk member, mostly on the financial sectors. For the past 5 years Sophia has covered a wide variety of topics such as the financial markets, economics, technology, fin-tech and trading. Sophia has been a part of the FX Leaders team since 2017 and works on producing valuable content and information for traders of all levels of experience.