Crypto markets plunged this week with close to $1 billion wiped out in the past 24 hours as Bitcoin fell back to $85k range. Traders went into overdrive to sell, with those on long positions sustaining the most losses.
According to data from Coinglass, at the time of writing, the total liquidation in the last 24 hours stood at $954 million, comprising $836.26 million from long positions and $118.63 million from short positions.
Crypto Liquidation Heatmap
Crypto Liquidation Heatmap, Source: Coinglass
The drop also affected other major coins, including Ethereum, XRP, BNB, and Solana. Investors are cautious, and the Fear and Greed Index has fallen to 11, showing extreme fear in the market.
Trading volumes spiked as many investors scrambled to sell. As a result, the strong upward momentum seen earlier this year has disappeared into void.
Bitcoin, the market leader, fell 7.35% in 24 hours, while HYPE fell 8%, Ethereum slid 7.59% to $2,805.17. Additionally, XRP dropped 7.06%, BNB fell 4.93%, and Solana lost 8.12%. The global crypto market cap declined 6.53% to $2.94 trillion, while trading volumes jumped nearly 16% to $211.65 billion.
Ethereum bore the brunt of liquidations, losing more than $4 million, followed by Bitcoin at $2.5 million. Solana, XRP, and other smaller altcoins also faced liquidations, though on a smaller scale. In hourly windows, $17 million in positions were wiped out, predominantly long trades.
The four-hour timeframe showed similar trends, with $146 million in long liquidations versus $11 million in short positions. Coinglass reported 253,290 traders liquidated in 24 hours. The single largest hit came from an HTX BTC-USDT trade valued at $30.9 million.
The liquidation patterns indicate traders betting on price gains were caught off guard. As Crypto Spotter noted on X: “Earlier, even a small dump in $BTC caused a massive crash in altcoins. But this time, $BTC dropped from 115K to under 87K, and most alts are still holding strong… This is a good sign.” Hence, while short-term losses dominated, altcoins have not collapsed as severely as in previous corrections.
SoSoValue data reveals erratic changes in Bitcoin ETF flows throughout the last year. Early 2024 showed strong inflows as BTC went up, while late 2024 and 2025 saw heavier outflows.
During this week, ETF flows were consistently negative, showing that investors were pulling money out almost every day. So far this week, nearly $1.45 billion have been sold in Bitcoin ETFs, with the most notable outflow of $903.11 million being recorded on November 20.
Accordingly, Ethereum ETF flows had almost the same results with accumulation-supported price rallies in early 2025, followed by withdrawals as sentiment cooled. As per the data, Ethereum experienced daily net outflow of $261.59 million on November 20, which shows an increase in selling pressure across institution productions.
Total Ethereum Spot ETF Net Inflow, Source: Sosovalue
Evgeniy, another analyst, posted on X emphasizing a longer-term perspective for altcoins: “We are currently seeing a combination of signals that has only appeared a few times in crypto history… Each time it signaled the start of a MULTI-YEAR UPTREND for altcoins relative to Bitcoin.”
He highlighted bullish crossovers on the MACD, RSI breakouts, and downtrend reversals as evidence. Despite short-term volatility, altcoins may outperform Bitcoin once broader market conditions stabilize.
These recent liquidations highlight how volatile the crypto market remains. As of now, altcoins are under pressure, but some trends suggest potential growth over the coming years.