Bitcoin Near $91K as Extreme Fear Grips Market, $1B in Liquidations Hit Traders
Bitcoin (BTC $84,390.27) hovered around $91,400 on Tuesday as market sentiment plunged to “extreme fear,” volatility surged, and leveraged traders faced over $1 billion in liquidations. Ether (ETH $2,745.25) traded near $3,060, while most altcoins continued to slide.
The Fear & Greed Index dropped to 15/100, a level last seen in April before Bitcoin defied bearish expectations and surged from $76,000 to over $100,000 within a month. While sentiment suggests a potential bounce, Bitcoin may first test the $87,500 support level to clear remaining leveraged positions.
Monday’s market action highlighted the dangers of emotional trading, with one leveraged trader losing $5.5 million after shorting the bottom with 30x leverage. As Warren Buffett famously said: “Buy when there is blood in the streets, even if it’s your own.”
Derivatives and Volatility
Over $1 billion in crypto futures positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, mostly long positions. BTC’s 30-day implied volatility (Volmex BVIV) briefly reached 55% annualized—the highest since the Oct. 10 crash. BTC futures open interest rose to a six-week high of 730,550 BTC, with rising OI amid falling prices confirming a downtrend. ETH futures OI remains around 12.5 million. Perpetual funding rates are mildly positive for most tokens, excluding TRX. Options activity shows a bias toward puts, including BTC $90,000 strike puts expiring Nov. 28 and ETH $4,000 call rollovers.
Altcoins and Market Trends
Privacy coins saw the largest losses: Zcash (ZEC $516.84) fell 14% and Dash (DASH $56.45) dropped 9%, exceeding declines in ETH and XRP. Some tokens bucked the trend—ASTER and HYPE rose 8.5% and 5%, respectively. The CoinDesk 10 index, excluding Bitcoin, lost 3.8% over 24 hours, adding to a 19.7% monthly decline.
Altcoin pairs show lower highs and lower lows, signaling continued downtrends. However, past bull markets have weathered 30% corrections, suggesting the crypto market has yet to enter “crypto winter.”
