Bitcoin extended its November slump on Friday, slipping below $85,000 for the first time since April, as a cascade of leveraged liquidations and a sense of collapse deepened what is shaping up to be the worst monthly pullback since the crypto winter of 2022.
BTC briefly touched $81,600 before settling near $84,000, erasing its year-to-date gains and returning the market to levels last seen before January’s ETF boom.
On the main tokens, the damage spreads quickly. Ether fell below $2,750, down almost 14% over the past week. Solana slipped more than 10% in 24 hours, while XRP, BNB, and Cardano all posted declines between 8 and 15%. Overall, large caps are down 20-35% from their November highs, with small caps faring much worse.
The sale coincides with nearly $2 billion in liquidations over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data. Bitcoin accounted for $964 million of that total, followed by ether at $407 million and a large wave of forced unwinds across altcoins.
Around 396,000 traders were liquidated, with the largest wipeout – a $36.7 million BTC position – occurring on Hyperliquid.
Conditions outside of crypto don’t do much to help. Global stocks recorded their worst week in seven months, as doubts over prolonged AI-related valuations and the likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate cut in December weigh on sentiment.
The MSCI All Country World Index fell more than 3% this week, while U.S. technology stocks remain under pressure. Treasuries came under offer, a classic sign of a flight of capital towards risk.
Cryptocurrency-specific flows continue to worsen. U.S.-listed bitcoin ETFs recorded more than $900 million in net outflows on Thursday, their second worst day since launching in early 2024. Open interest in perpetual futures has fallen 35% since October’s peak of nearly $94 billion, further reducing liquidity across the board.
Retail confidence is deteriorating just as quickly. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to 11 on Monday – deep into “extreme fear” territory and its lowest reading since late 2022.
Historically, such levels have preceded major lows, but with price now breaking multi-month support and institutional flows reversing, the market has yet to show any signs of stabilization.
