Bitcoin Plunges Under $98,000, $880M in Liquidations

A fresh move lower in Asian morning exacerbated losses for hopeful traders as bitcoin lost the $98,000 level for the first time since May, extending a week-long bleed that has dragged majors sharply lower.

Ether fell more than 8% to around $3,500, while XRP, DOGE$0.1644, Solana’s SOL and Cardano’ ADA posted similar declines. The tone remained decisively risk-off, with crypto tracking equity weakness across Asia as traders unwound leveraged bets and rotated into cash.

Liquidation data shows the magnitude of the flush. More than $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions were wiped out over 24 hours, with roughly $887 million coming from longs.

That marks one of the heaviest bull-side liquidations in a month. About 235,000 traders were forced out of positions, and the single largest wipeout was a $44 million BTC long on HTX.

Across major venues, Bybit, Hyperliquid and Binance each saw more than $180 million in long liquidations which represented over 85% of all bets, reflecting how aggressively traders had leaned into last week’s bounce.

The setup heading into the decline was fragile as funding rates had turned positive across majors, open interest was climbing, and spot volumes were thinning — making for conditions that often amplify downside once momentum flips.

With BTC slicing through $100,000, liquidity pockets evaporated on the way down, creating a vacuum that accelerated the move toward $97,000.

Macro headwinds added fuel. China’s latest dataset showed economic activity cooling far 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 slump.

The numbers hit Asian equities immediately, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropping 1.3% and chipmakers leading losses. The weakness spilled into crypto within minutes, mirroring patterns seen throughout Q4 where digital assets have behaved like high-beta macro risk.

At the same time, hopes for a December Federal Reserve rate cut faded after a series of cautious remarks from officials. Money markets now price the odds of a December cut at below 50%, down sharply from earlier in the week. That shift, combined with the global equity wobble, created the latest leg lower in crypto as traders reassessed positioning into year-end.

For crypto, the immediate question is whether the forced unwinds have run their course.

BTC’s break below $98,000 puts focus on support near $94,000, while altcoins remain vulnerable if equities extend their pullback.

But structurally, liquidation-driven resets have often marked exhaustion zones. Whether that dynamic repeats depends largely on whether macro volatility stabilizes over the next 48 hours.