Bitcoin crashed more than 6% in hours, triggering over $600 million in leveraged liquidations.
Major altcoins such as Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Cardano fell steeply.
The crash seems to be driven by thin weekend liquidity and a large-scale deleveraging event rather than a specific news trigger.
The crypto market faced a brutal start to December as crypto prices today plunged during Asian trading hours at press time. Leading the sharp decline, Bitcoin price crashed nearly $6,000 in a two-hour period that triggered massive liquidations. The plunge wiped out hundreds of millions in leveraged positions. Here’s what happened in the market based on CoinMarketCap data.
Bitcoin price tumbled to $85,857.83, suffering a steep 5.50% fall in the last 24 hours. The crash was much larger during Asian trading. Bitcoin fell from about $91,965 to an intraday low of $85,945. This is a loss of more than 6.5% in just a couple of hours. Bitcoin is now 32% off its all-time high of $126,198, reached on October 7, 2025. The cryptocurrency had its worst November since 2018, tumbling 18% that month.
This sudden move caught many traders by surprise. Having spent the end of November hovering near $91,000, Bitcoin had been slipping gradually lower. With a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion and 19.95 million BTC in circulation, Bitcoin is still the largest cryptocurrency. However, trading volume jumped 46% to $55 billion in the last 24 hours as panic selling set in. The sharp spike in sell volume points to forced liquidations or large stop-loss orders getting triggered across exchanges.
According to CoinSwitch Markets Desk, “BTC pulled back below $88,000 after hitting a large liquidation cluster under $90,000. Once that cluster was triggered, liquidity thinned, and the price dropped quickly toward $87,000, where it is now attempting to establish support. Before the drop, BTC had been trading in a tight $91,000–$92,500 range, showing reduced volatility.”
CoinSwitch analysts further elaborated, “On the macro side, a key shift arrives today as the Fed ends Quantitative Tightening, removing a major liquidity drain and potentially improving overall conditions for risk assets. BTC has now cleared major long liquidations, and holding $86,000–$87,000 keeps the door open for a move toward $89,000–$90,000.”
Ethereum price slid to $2,824.06, losing 5.81% in the period under review. This cryptocurrency briefly reached $2,819 during the Asian trading session, reflecting a 6.1% slip. Ethereum saw around $154 million in liquidations during the crash, making it the second-hardest hit cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. Trading volume reached $19.93 billion as traders rushed to exit positions or buy the dip.
Solana price was down 7.32% to $126.40, one of the sharpest declines among major cryptocurrencies. At a market capitalization of $70.74 billion and a circulating supply of 559.65 million SOL, Solana showed particular weakness during today's market turmoil.
XRP was one of the worst performers within the top ten. The coin’s price tumbled 7.60% to $2.03. At the height of the selloff, XRP briefly fell to $2.04, its lowest level in a week, down 7.5% from recent highs.
Crypto prices today are showing broad weakness across major tokens:
BNB lost 5.80% and traded at $823.71, while its market capitalization settled at $113.45 billion. TRON fell only 0.98% to $0.2772, proving the most resilient among these tokens. Cardano plummeted 7.96% to 0.3843, failing to stay out of the wide selloff in the broader market. Dogecoin also crashed 8.23% to $0.1369, leading the decline among the world’s top ten coins.
On the other hand, stablecoins held strong. USD Coin (USDC) remained stable at $1, up a slight 0.04% as traders flocked into the safety of stablecoins. Tether was also pegged at $1 with no change, holding steady amidst the chaos.
Also Read: Bitcoin News Today: BTC Stability Above $90,000 Signals Renewed Confidence Amid Global Volatility Concerns
Today's sharp decline in crypto prices was due to a number of factors. The crash occurred during the ‘Sunday slam’, a pattern repeated throughout 2025, when major crypto moves took place on Friday nights and Sunday nights. This timing is specifically perilous because liquidity during weekend trading is thin, making the swings in price all the more extreme.
More than $608 million in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass data. Long positions, or bets that prices would rise, took the biggest hit at more than $535 million in liquidations. Meanwhile, short positions saw only about $73 million wiped out.
In total, Bitcoin's liquidations alone accounted for approximately $185 million, while Ethereum added another $154 million to that figure. In just one hour at the peak of the selloff, $400 million worth of leveraged longs were wiped out. For highly leveraged traders, this wasn't a normal pullback—it felt like a trapdoor that instantly reset positioning.
The move exposed how fragile market sentiment remains after Bitcoin's worst November in years. Funding rates had been stretched, showing that too many traders were betting on continued gains. When prices started falling, these positions were forced to close, creating a cascade effect that pushed prices even lower.
There had not been a single news catalyst that led to this crash. Instead, it appears to be a technical deleveraging event that happened during thin weekend liquidity. The Fear and Greed index now sits at 20, firmly in ‘fear’ territory, highlighting the negative sentiment gripping the market.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks later on December 1, and traders are closely watching for any indication of what might happen at December's policy meeting. Comments from Fed officials over the past week have been on the dovish side. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, Governor Christopher Waller, and New York Fed President John Williams all indicated support for continued rate cuts.
The chances of another rate cut in mid-December are now in the futures markets at 87%. While generally a rate cut is positive for risk assets like crypto, the uncertainty ahead of Powell's remarks makes traders cautious. Any hint of a slowdown in the rate cuts could put extra pressure on crypto prices.
This week is the busiest week of US economic data releases, with manufacturing, services, consumer confidence, and holiday spending reports related to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. These will help determine whether the Fed continues cutting rates into 2026 as inflation cools and consumer demand slows.
Adding to the policy uncertainty, US President Donald Trump has just announced that he has decided on a nominee to be the next Federal Reserve chair. This adds greater focus to monetary policy and could lead to some volatility depending on how markets interpret the choice.
Despite the crash, Bitcoin ETFs have shown some positive signs. They posted their first week of net inflows since October, suggesting institutional demand may be reviving. However, ETF flows overall show institutional caution, with investors taking a wait-and-see approach.
Some of the harder-hit tokens outside of the top ten include Zcash, which crashed 22% in 24 hours. Ethena, Dash, KuCoin, Injective, Starknet, Pudgy Penguins, and Aave all tanked between 12-15% during the same period. Bitcoin's dominance in the crypto market remained at 58.6%. This is a sure indication that while Bitcoin fell hard, the altcoins suffered even more severe losses.
Also Read: Crypto News Today: Visa Expands Stablecoin Payments Across Global Markets
Bitcoin faces key levels that will determine whether this is a brief shakeout or the start of a deeper correction. Support at $85,000 will be critical to hold, while $92,400 represents immediate resistance if prices recover. Strengthening liquidity and improving market depth could support a bounce if sentiment stabilizes and Fed commentary proves dovish.
1. What caused the sudden drop in Bitcoin price today?
Many factors contributed to today’s Bitcoin price decline, but the biggest was the liquidation cascade that occurred late on a Saturday night. Because it’s the weekend and trading will be light, the liquidation of these over-leveraged positions led to a rapid downward price movement in Bitcoin, which peaked at $60,000. Due to insufficient liquidity, each time a seller dumped Bitcoin, it had a much larger impact on the price than usual, triggering a chain reaction.
2. Why are all major cryptocurrencies down today?
The steep drop in Bitcoin triggered panic among investors, leading to the automatic liquidation of their positions in other major cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Cardano. Because the majority of investors believe that Bitcoin is the leader of the Cryptocurrency market, when it drops sharply, they tend to drop out of all their altcoin positions first before moving back into them (if at all). This is due to cryptocurrency trading using high leverage ratios and stop-loss orders amplifying losses during periods of fallibility.
3. Was today's crash related to any major news events?
There was no major catalyst that directly caused today’s crash. Today’s drop was driven by a fragile liquidity environment, a large number of over-leveraged long positions being liquidated quickly, and very high funding rates, which triggered mass liquidation events. As a result of these massive liquidations, the entire market dropped rapidly and dramatically.
4. Are stablecoins like USDT and USDC affected by the crash?
USDT and USDC retained their $1.00 value during the market downturn because they were issued in compliance with established protocols, which linked them to the US dollar as their base currency. Because of volatility, many traders transferred their funds into stable-currency assets like USDT or USDC to protect themselves from the downturn; as a result, both assets maintained their dollar value and saw increased trading volume during the crash.
5. When will the crypto prices recover from the market correction?
Whether Bitcoin holds its gold support level of about $85,000 will likely play an essential role in determining when prices will recover. Likewise, how traders react to future macroeconomic events, such as Jerome Powell's comments on interest rates and various US economic reports, will be crucial in determining whether cryptocurrency prices can rebound after this downturn. Thus, if trader sentiment improves and liquidity returns to markets, companies could see new records over the coming week. If, however, Bitcoin's price breaks below support lines, there is potential for further corrections and delays before the markets experience any degree of stabilization again.
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