• While bitcoin and ethereum dominate the headlines, there are more than 17,000 crypto coins.
• With less liquidity and more volatility, these alternative cryptocurrencies can deliver investors massive losses or gains in a short period of time.
• These were the five worst performing cryptocurrencies over the past week, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin’s bear market has sucked the life out of many popular cryptocurrencies, with the total crypto market capitalization falling from $3 trillion to less than $2 trillion today. But less liquid altcoins have seen an even steeper decline.

With more than 17,000 cryptocurrencies in existence and counting, there are more than triple the number of crypto coins than there are US exchange-listed stocks. That massive amount of supply makes it nearly impossible to keep track of all the big movers in the crypto sector outside of well known coins like bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin.

The surge in new crypto coins came amid a massive bull market for the sector in 2021, but a more than 40% decline in bitcoin from its November high is challenging the space, especially in smaller coins that saw extraordinary gains last year like solana, cardano, and polkadot…read more.