EOS emerged as the biggest loser among the top ten cryptocurrencies on June 24, 2018, plunging more than 22% over the previous seven days as a relentless bear market continued to punish digital assets across the board. The token was trading at approximately $8.09, down from levels above $10 just one week earlier, as the broader crypto market cap dropped from roughly $260 billion to approximately $241 billion in a matter of days.
TL;DR
- EOS posted a 22.42% weekly loss — the worst performance among the top 10 cryptocurrencies
- Total crypto market cap fell from $260 billion to approximately $241 billion in days
- Bitcoin Cash dropped 11.64%, Litecoin fell 15.95%, and Cardano slid 17.75% over seven days
- EOS mainnet launched on June 10 amid significant technical difficulties and voter participation concerns
- China’s new crypto rankings placed EOS first, Ethereum second, and Bitcoin 17th
A Troubled Mainnet Launch
The EOS sell-off came just two weeks after the much-anticipated launch of the EOSIO mainnet on June 10. The transition from the Ethereum blockchain — where EOS tokens had existed as ERC-20 tokens during their record-breaking $4 billion year-long initial coin offering — to the native EOS blockchain was anything but smooth.
The launch process was marred by significant technical difficulties. Block producers, the entities responsible for maintaining the network under EOS’s delegated proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, encountered a series of bugs that delayed full network activation. Critical vulnerabilities were discovered in the EOS codebase in the days leading up to the launch, including one that Chinese security firm Qihoo 360 described as an “epic” vulnerability that could have allowed attackers to take control of nodes on the network.
Voter participation in the block producer election was also surprisingly low, with only a small fraction of EOS tokens being used to cast votes in the initial days after mainnet activation. This raised concerns about the centralization of the network and the legitimacy of the governance process that was supposed to be EOS’s key differentiator.
Market-Wide Carnage
EOS was not alone in its suffering. The June 24 market snapshot from CoinMarketCap painted a bleak picture across the entire cryptocurrency landscape. Bitcoin itself had dropped to approximately $6,173 after hitting a new 2018 low of $5,787 earlier in the day, representing a 5.15% decline over the previous seven days.
Among the other major cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin Cash had fallen 11.64% over the week to trade near $749. Litecoin was down 15.95% at approximately $80.78. Cardano had shed 17.75% to trade around $0.13. Even Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was down 8.43% over 24 hours and 68% from its January peak, trading at roughly $458.
The total cryptocurrency market capitalization had plummeted from its January 4 peak of $707 billion to approximately $243 billion — a staggering loss of $464 billion in less than six months. The rate of decline appeared to be accelerating, with approximately $19 billion wiped out in just the last few days alone.
China’s Paradoxical Endorsement
Adding an ironic twist to EOS’s price collapse, China’s Center for Information and Industry Development released its updated cryptocurrency ranking during the same period, placing EOS at the number one position. Ethereum ranked second, while Bitcoin — the original and most valuable cryptocurrency — was relegated to 17th place.
The rankings, which evaluate cryptocurrencies based on technology, application, and innovation rather than market performance, did little to support EOS’s price. The disconnect between technical assessment and market reality highlighted the extent to which sentiment and macro factors were driving prices rather than fundamental project quality.
Monero Bucks the Trend
In a market awash in red, Monero (XMR) stood out as a rare exception. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency gained 5.17% over 24 hours, trading at approximately $121. Monero’s resilience may reflect growing interest in privacy coins during a period of increased regulatory scrutiny, as traders sought assets that offered transaction anonymity in an environment of heightened surveillance from financial regulators worldwide.
Ethereum Classic also managed a modest gain of 0.79% over 24 hours, trading near $14.88, perhaps benefiting from its repositioning as the “original” Ethereum chain amid concerns about the direction of the main Ethereum network.
Why This Matters
The EOS crash of June 2018 illustrates a fundamental challenge for cryptocurrency projects: even the most well-funded launches with billions of dollars in ICO proceeds are not immune to broader market forces. EOS’s $4 billion war chest and ambitious technical roadmap could not shield its token from the wave of selling that swept through the entire crypto market. The episode also raised important questions about the sustainability of the ICO model, the maturity of blockchain governance systems, and whether technical rankings from government-affiliated bodies have any meaningful impact on market dynamics. For investors, the lesson was sobering: in a bear market, even good projects get punished alongside the bad ones.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
eos bagholders learned the hard way that block ones promises were empty
eos losing 22 percent while the whole market bled showed how overhyped it was
the top 10 crypto rout was brutal – nobody was safe in that market
q2 2018 was relentless – every bounce got sold immediately
245 billion total market cap feels like nothing now but it was panic territory then