The crypto market extended its sharp downturn in November, with global market capitalization plunging from $4.28 trillion to a six-month low of $3.27 trillion in just weeks. Bitcoin and Ethereum have now fallen 23% and 36% from their all-time highs, fueling fears of a broader decline across altcoins. Market sentiment has deteriorated significantly, with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropping to an extreme-fear level of 15, signaling strong bearish pressure and the possibility of deeper losses.
Top cryptocurrencies including XRP, BNB, SOL, ADA, ZEC, and several AI-linked tokens slid 5-12% in the past 24 hours. Meme coins such as DOGE, SHIB, and PEPE also erased earlier gains, with PEPE now down 80% year-to-date. Traders are bracing for more downside as JPMorgan identifies $94,000 as the next critical support for Bitcoin.
Macroeconomic uncertainty is adding fuel to the sell-off. President Donald Trump ended the 43-day U.S. government shutdown but key economic data such as CPI and jobs figures remain unreleased. Fed officials, including Neel Kashkari, warned of rising inflation risks, reducing expectations for a December rate cut. CME FedWatch now shows odds of another 25-bps cut falling from 62.9% to 52.1%, aligning with Jerome Powell’s hawkish stance.
Market volatility intensified as $4.7 billion in BTC and ETH options expired. Over 41,000 BTC contracts worth $4 billion expired with growing put volume and a max-pain level at $105K, indicating intensified hedging and fears of BTC dipping below $95K. ETH faced similar pressure with 233,000 contracts expiring and traders opening puts targeting sub-$3,000 levels.
Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs registered heavy outflows, with BTC products losing $866.7 million and ETH ETFs posting $259.6 million in net outflows. Meanwhile, institutions appear to be rotating into Solana and XRP, as the new Canary XRP ETF saw record inflows.
Long-term holders and whales had already begun profit-taking in October, aligning with historical post-halving cycles. Over $1.1 billion in crypto liquidations occurred in the past day alone, including a massive $44.29 million BTC order on HTX. Major altcoins such as ETH, SOL, XRP, DOGE, and BNB saw significant long liquidations as buy-side support thinned.
BTC briefly dropped to $96,840, while ETH hit $3,112 and XRP fell to $2.28. Analysts warn that the downturn may continue, with trend models for both Bitcoin and Ethereum remaining firmly bearish since early October.
