15th November 2025 – (New York) Bitcoin slid under $95,000 for the first time in roughly six months amid a wave of risk aversion, with investors withdrawing close to $900 million from exchange-traded funds tracking the token. The largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 4.7% to $94,147, putting it on the cusp of erasing its year-to-date gains. It set a record high near $126,251 in early October and finished 2024 at $93,714.
The defensive turn has been stark in derivatives markets. Over the past 24 hours, demand for downside protection has accelerated, with open interest in put options at $85,000 and $90,000 now eclipsing bullish call positions at $120,000 and $140,000, according to Deribit data cited by Coinbase. Calls above $100,000 had dominated through much of the year as Bitcoin repeatedly set new peaks.
Outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs totalled about $870 million on Thursday, the second-biggest daily withdrawal since their launch. Liquidity conditions have deteriorated too: market depth, a measure of the capacity to absorb larger trades without outsized price swings, has dropped around 30% from this year’s highs, Kaiko data show.
The broader crypto complex remains under pressure following the 10 October washout, when some $19 billion in liquidations wiped more than $1 trillion from total market capitalisation, according to CoinGecko. Long-position liquidations have been rising again this week, while open interest in crypto futures has struggled to recover since the early-October crash, Coinglass reports. The Fear & Greed Index on CoinMarketCap is edging towards “extreme fear”, signalling heightened expectations of further selling.
Macro headwinds continue to weigh. A brief rebound in US equities earlier in the week, helped by relief over the end of the government shutdown, faded quickly. With key economic releases delayed, traders are questioning the Federal Reserve’s scope for near-term rate cuts, a reassessment that is pressuring risk-sensitive assets. Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions’ deputy CIO Max Gokhman said crypto’s sell-off is moving in step with other risk markets but with greater amplitude given the sector’s higher volatility, and that crypto’s beta to macro risks is likely to remain elevated until institutional participation broadens beyond Bitcoin and Ether.
Technical sentiment has weakened further as strategists highlight scant support until the low-$90,000s, noting that Bitcoin has turned negative since President Trump’s inauguration and that the overall crypto market cap has retraced its year-to-date gains. Options traders are increasingly positioning for larger swings, with rising interest in volatility‑focused structures such as strangles and straddles, according to Nick Ruck at LVRG Research.
An additional source of unease has been the decline in Strategy Inc.’s share price. The prominent Bitcoin accumulator fell around 4% on Friday and is down more than 30% this year, putting its enterprise value in danger of slipping below the worth of its roughly $60 billion Bitcoin holdings. Bloomberg data put the company’s enterprise value, including debt and preferred equity, at about $74.8 billion as of Thursday. Chairman Michael Saylor told CNBC the firm is buying “quite a lot” of Bitcoin and would disclose purchases on Monday, adding that prices should recover from current levels. He also urged investors to “hodl” in a post on X earlier in the day.
