Although momentum had propelled prices past six figures for much of the summer, Bitcoin fell below the $100,000 threshold during trading on November 4, 2025, touching intraday lows near $99,075–99,671 on major venues such as Binance before a partial recovery to roughly $103,650–$103,900, a collapse that represents a retracement of more than 20% from early October peaks above $126,000 and constitutes the asset’s first monthly decline in October since 2018, a development that, when considered alongside a single-day contraction of over $300 billion in total cryptocurrency market capitalization and more than $1 trillion in losses since October 6, signals a pronounced sector-wide de-risking driven by profit-taking, elevated bond yields, regulatory uncertainty, and heightened correlation with traditional risk assets, factors that have concurrently elevated market dominance metrics for Bitcoin to approximately 61.3% even as altcoins experienced steeper declines and sentiment indices plunged into “extreme fear,” prompting significant ETF outflows and prompting strategists to reassess support thresholds—notably the $101,000 daily close level—whose breach could precipitate further downside toward levels near $72,000 within a one-to-two month horizon. Market participants interpreted the abrupt downshift as a complex interplay of liquidity dynamics and macro drivers, where accelerated profit realization following summer rallies interacted with rising U.S. Treasury yields, prompting reallocation toward fixed income and generating a correlated sell-off across risk assets; the resultant market structure deterioration manifested in concentrated order book gaps, reduced bid depth, and technical levels giving way, a process that increased the likelihood of a support breakdown and exacerbated losses for leveraged positions. The altcoin complex registered disproportionately larger drawdowns, with many tokens declining 15–20% within a week and Ethereum trading near $3,143 after a drop exceeding 13%, outcomes that magnified flows into Bitcoin ETFs relative to other digital-asset products yet failed to arrest net institutional redemptions totaling approximately $1.9 billion from Bitcoin vehicles and $719 million from Ethereum-linked funds, indicators of constrained appetite. Analysts warned that sustained correlation with equities and ongoing regulatory ambiguity could intensify volatility, and that a verified daily close beneath $101,000 might trigger a liquidation cascade, compelling reassessment of risk models, margin protocols, and capital allocation across both proprietary traders and institutional holders. Additionally, on-chain indicators showed exchange BTC balances rising and futures open interest falling, underscoring shifting liquidity and leverage conditions that could amplify volatility in the near term exchange balances. Recent trading also saw 24‑hour volume spike dramatically, reflecting panic selling and heavy order flow into stablecoins surge in volume. This persistent regulatory uncertainty continues to weigh heavily on investor confidence and market stability.
