A fresh move lower in the Asian morning exacerbated losses for hopeful traders, as bitcoin lost the $98,000 level for the first time since May, extending a week-long hemorrhage that has dragged major companies lower.
Ether fell more than 8% to around $3,500, while XRP, Solana’s SOL and Cardano’s ADA recorded similar declines. The tone remained decidedly risk-off, with cryptocurrencies following equity weakness across Asia as traders unwound their leveraged bets and converted them into cash.
The settlement data shows the magnitude of the item. Over $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions were wiped out in 24 hours, of which approximately $887 million came from long positions.
This marks one of the largest bullish sell-offs in a month. Around 235,000 traders were forced to exit their positions, with the largest elimination being a $44 million long BTC position in HTX.
In the major venues, Bybit, Hyperliquid and Binance each recorded more than $180 million in long liquidations, accounting for more than 85% of all bets, reflecting how aggressively traders had tilted into last week’s bounce.
The pre-dip setup was fragile, as funding rates had turned positive across all major companies, open interest was rising, and spot volumes were declining, creating conditions that often amplify downsides once momentum shifts.
With BTC surpassing $100,000, pockets of liquidity evaporated on the way down, creating a vacuum that accelerated the move towards $97,000.
Macroeconomic headwinds added fuel. The latest set of data from China showed that economic activity is cooling much more than expected. Industrial production slowed to 4.9% year-on-year from 6.5% in September, while fixed asset investment contracted 1.7% over the first 10 months in a historic decline.
The numbers immediately hit Asian stocks, with the MSCI Asia Pacific index falling 1.3% and chipmakers leading the losses. The weakness spread to cryptocurrencies within minutes, mirroring patterns seen during the fourth quarter, where digital assets have behaved as a high-beta macro risk.
At the same time, hopes of a Federal Reserve rate cut in December faded after a series of cautious comments from officials. Money markets now price the odds of a December cut at below 50%, well below where they were earlier in the week. That shift, combined with the swing in global stocks, created the latest cryptocurrency decline as traders reassessed their positioning heading into the end of the year.
For cryptocurrencies, the immediate question is whether forced uncouplings have run their course.
BTC’s break below $98,000 puts the focus on support near $94,000, while altcoins remain vulnerable if stocks extend their pullback.
But structurally, selloff-driven resets have often marked exhaustion zones. Whether this dynamic is repeated depends largely on whether macroeconomic volatility stabilizes in the next 48 hours.
