$Ethereum(ETH.CC)$ fell sharply, while $Bitcoin(BTC.CC)$ faced relatively lower strain at press time on Thursday evening, as the global cryptocurrency market cap decreased 3.7% to $1.2 trillion.

Why It Matters: Cryptocurrencies failed to muster strength even as other risk assets like stocks soared on Thursday. 

Bitcoin, Ethereum and $Dogecoin(DOGE.CC)$ traded below the $30,000, $2,000 and 8 cents levels, respectively, at press time. On Thursday, the S&P500 closed 2% higher and the Nasdaq added 2.7%. 

Altcoins are particularly under pressure as investors tend to shed riskier assets during downturns.  

OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya attributed the sharper fall in ETH to scaling worries post "The Merge," or the official transition to proof-of-stake.

Ethereum is selling off as many crypto traders start to doubt Ethereum 2 will be successful." 

- said Moya in a note.

"Ethereum 2 merge was delayed until August, but it won't truly let Ethereum be scaled up, they will use a multi-chain system and will connect to a wrath of Layer 2 scaling solutions."

Moya noted that Ethereum has potent rivals that "can do a better job of scaling up and this latest update might force people to jump ship."

Cryptocurrency trader and analyst Michaël van de Poppe tweeted that he was looking at the $28,800 and $29,300 levels for Bitcoin's upward movement, saying that the apex coin could make its way to $31,000 and $32,800.

The percent of unspent Bitcoin transactions, whose price at creation was lower than the current price, has fallen from 86.8% at the beginning of 2022 to 74.5% at press time, according to Glassnode data.  A higher number is usually indicative of market tops, while lower values signal a bottom.

A contrarian view was expressed by chartist Ali Martinez, who said that Bitcoin appears to be losing support floor between the $30,000 and $29,100 levels.

"There aren't any other significant demand walls underneath," said Martinez in a tweet.