Bitcoin extended its November collapse on Friday, falling below $85,000 for the first time since April as a cascade of leveraged liquidations and collapsing sentiment fueled what looks set to be the worst monthly move since the crypto winter of 2022.
BTC briefly touched $81,600 before stabilizing near $84,000, erasing its year-to-date gains and returning the market to levels last seen before January’s ETF boom.
Across large tokens, the damage spreads quickly. Ether fell below $2,750, down nearly 14% in the past week. Solana slid over 10% in 24 hours, while XRP, BNB, and Cardano all saw declines of between 8-15%. Overall, the majors have returned 20-35% from their November highs, with smaller caps faring far worse.
The sale coincides with nearly $2 billion in liquidations over the past 24 hours, CoinGlass data shows. Bitcoin accounted for $964 million of the total, followed by ether at $407 million and a broad wave of forced liquidations across altcoins.
Roughly 396,000 traders were liquidated, with the single largest wipeout – a $36.7 million BTC position – taking place on Hyperliquid.
Relationships outside of crypto don’t help much. Global stocks have posted their worst week in seven months as doubts about extended AI-driven valuations and Federal Reserve rate cut odds in December weigh on sentiment.
The MSCI All Country World Index is down more than 3 percent this week, while US tech stocks remain under pressure. Treasuries captured a bid, a classic sign of capital fleeing risk.
Crypto-specific flows continue to worsen. US-listed bitcoin ETFs saw 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 near $94 billion, further reducing liquidity across the board.
Retail sentiment is deteriorating just as quickly. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to 11 on Monday – deep in “extreme fear” territory and its lowest reading since late 2022.
Historically, such levels have preceded major swing lows, but with prices now breaking multi-month support and institutional flows returning, the market has yet to show any signs of stabilization.
