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

A fresh move lower in the Asian morning compounded losses for traders hoping bitcoin lost the $98,000 level for the first time since May, extending a week-long bleeding that has dragged the majors much lower.

Ether fell more than 8% to around $3,500, while XRP, DOGE$0.1631Solana’s SOL and Cardano’ ADA posted similar declines. The tone has been decidedly risk-on, with weakness trailing crypto equities across Asia as traders shed leveraged and cash-rotated bets.

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

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

In the main venues, Bybit, Hyperliquid and Binance each saw more than $180 million in long liquidations representing more than 85% of all bets, reflecting how aggressively traders leaned on last week’s bounce.

The configuration heading into the decline was fragile, as funding rates turned positive in the majors, open interest was rising, and spot volumes were declining – making for conditions that often amplify downsides once the momentum changes.

With BTC slicing through $100,000, pockets of cash evaporated along the way, creating a vacuum that will accelerate the move towards $97,000.

Macro headwinds add fuel. The latest set of data from China showed economic activity cooling much more than expected. Industrial production slowed to 4.9% annually from 6.5% in September, while fixed asset investment contracted 1.7% in the first 10 months in a historic slump.

The numbers immediately hit Asian companies, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index falling 1.3% and chipmakers leading losses. Weakness spread across crypto within minutes, mirroring the patterns seen in Q4 where digital assets behaved like a 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. The money markets now price the probability of a cut in December to below 50%, in sharp decline from earlier in the week. That change, combined with the global equity wobble, created the last leg lower in crypto as traders reassessed positioning at the end of the year.

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

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

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