In its worst performing month since 2022, BitCoin has crashed and losses were excessively felt during the night (depending on your timezone) of 21st November 2025 due to a “perfect storm” of macroeconomic pressures, ETF outflows, excessive leverage, and collapsing investor sentiment. Prices have fallen over 30% from October’s all-time high of $126,000, to below $85,000 today.
What the hell just happened?
The key reasons behind the crash, as already mentioned, include massive EFT outflows, with billions withdrawn in mid-November and large institutional holders selling off positions which in short accelerated downward momentum or put simply BitCoin being cashed out.
Consequently, leveraged traders were hit hard, with over $800 million in liquidations in a single day. Analysts have noted that excessive leveraged trading created instability, pushing Bitcoin into a structural bear market.
Broadly speaking it also fits into a broader context with U.S. stock markets also plunging after disappointing Nvidia earnings that resulted in risk assets being dragged down. Additionally, concerns about an “AI bubble” and tightening Federal Reserve policy have fueled risk-off sentiment. Concerning AI it reminds me of the DotCom boom, and of course the internet was the way forward, only companies jumped on the bandwagon too quickly. Is this repeating itself with the hype around AI?
And as always when there is a downward trend there is a follow through (and especially when it is the biggest player i.e. BitCoin) on the Crypto Fear & Greed Index which dropped to “extreme fear” levels not seen since the Luna collapse. This in turn led to panic among retail investors which led to cascading sell-offs.
For those of us who are technically minded, Chart Analyst John Bollinger highlighted failed Bollinger Band patterns in October and November, which are clear signs of weakness and this furthermore triggering additional selling.
As I stated in my introduction, BitCoin fell from an ATH of $126,000 in October to ~$85,000 by November 21, which erased over $1.3 trillion in crypto market value and not only that but it set in motion heavy drops in Ethereum, Solana, XRP, as well as other major coins, which means that this was a broad crypto market crash that affected more than BitCoin.
Does this mean the bears are back out to play?
Probably not (DYOR), but analysts expect in the short term a period of consolidation rather than a sharp rebound, given the depth of ETF outflows and macro headwinds. The question is one of whether we have hit the bottom yet.
Personally, I am hoping not because I moved too soon a year ago consolidating my BitCoin position and has still yet to hit my buy back position. I probably need another 10% drop before I move. The alternative is to continue to hold my funds in staked StableCoin. So, either I increase my BitCoin holdings or I don’t lose.
Win-Win.
One last thing, that last night in particular demonstrated, is that while crashes are part of Bitcoin’s history, the scale of November 2025 highlights how tightly crypto is now tied to global financial markets.
As always stay safe and well my friends.
