The month of November opened with heavy selling. More than $1.2 billion in leveraged trades were wiped out in about 12 hours.
Bitcoin fell around 4% to roughly $105,699, a three-week low. Ethereum slid about 7% to near $3,583. Most losses came from long bets that expected prices to rise.
Why the slide picked up speed
October was weak and no fresh good news arrived. US traders sold into support levels, and repeated tests made buyers step back.
Talk of high interest rates hurting parts of the economy also hurt sentiment. With jobs data due this week, many traders chose caution.
Ethereum and other coins
Ethereum briefly dropped nearly 9% and fell below the $3,600 mark.
Many trading venues showed weaker “funding rates,” a sign of growing caution. Options activity tilted toward protection for late November.
Major altcoins also fell: XRP about 7%, while BNB, Solana, and Dogecoin lost close to 9%. A reported issue at the Balancer protocol added pressure.
Liquidations and why they matter
Around 319,000 positions were closed in 24 hours. More than 90% were long positions.
Forced selling can speed up declines and shake confidence. After large wipeouts, markets often pause while traders reassess.
What to watch next
Key areas include the $100,000 zone for Bitcoin, the pace of US spot trading, and whether funding and options tone improve. For traders, bitcoin November starts on a defensive note. A steadier mood likely needs calmer macro news in the wider international market and firmer support on the charts.
Nobel prize economists take on cryptocurrency
Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia University, argues that BTC will eventually fail once governments crack down on money laundering and other crimes facilitated by cryptocurrencies.
“You cannot have a means of payment that is based on secrecy when you’re trying to create a transparent banking system,” he said. “If you open up a hole like bitcoin, then all the nefarious activity will go through that hole, and no government can allow that.”
Stiglitz also warns that if Bitcoin grows beyond a certain threshold, governments will “use the hammer” to act against it.
