Bitcoin fell below 69000 dollars after a new wave of liquidations, while Ether broke the 2000 dollar mark. However, the main danger no longer comes only from leverage. ETFs are emptying and t
Bitcoin fell below 69000 dollars after a new wave of liquidations, while Ether broke the 2000 dollar mark. However, the main danger no longer comes only from leverage. ETFs are emptying and the supply of stablecoins is decreasing, depriving the market of the necessary capital to absorb sales.
On November 12, Bitcoin had already reached a three-month low at 71317 dollars, against 1983 dollars for Ether. The total crypto market capitalization then fell from 2940 billion dollars in early October to 2390 billion, representing a destruction of about 550 billion dollars.
Start your crypto adventure safely with OKXThis link uses an affiliate program.The decline accelerated overnight. BTC dropped below 69000 dollars on November 13, bringing liquidations to about 1.41 billion dollars in twenty-four hours. Several figures illustrate the scale of deleveraging :
Bitcoin alone accounted for more than half of the losses, with 96% of long positions among closed contracts. Ether showed a comparable imbalance, as 90.4% of its liquidations also came from bullish bets.
These forced closures accelerated the decline. When a trader no longer has sufficient margin, the platform automatically sells their position. An initial drop then triggers liquidations, which add new supply to the market and push other positions towards their closure thresholds.
A wave of liquidations can sometimes cleanse the market. It eliminates the weakest positions, reduces leverage, and allows spot buyers to regain control. This time, the problem lies precisely in their absence.
US Bitcoin ETFs suffered five consecutive sessions of withdrawals until November 11, totaling about 1.44 billion dollars. The latest available session showed 299.8 million in outflows, including 269.7 million for BlackRock’s IBIT. Ethereum products were also heading towards a seventh negative week, with over 2.1 billion withdrawn over the period.
Weakness also affects internal market liquidity. The supply of major dollar-backed stablecoins decreased by 14.2 billion dollars in thirty days. The apparent demand for bitcoins, on the other hand, fell by 284000 BTC.
This contraction is more than just a technical indicator. Stablecoins represent a reserve of capital immediately mobilizable on crypto platforms. When their supply decreases, investors have less room to maneuver.
The market thus goes through two successive phases. Derivatives products first transformed the decline into a cascade of forced sales. Now, even when these positions are closed, spot purchases, ETFs, and stablecoins do not yet provide sufficient demand to sustainably stabilize prices.
Glassnode already observed that the spot CVD had become negative despite rising volumes. In other words, activity increases, but sellers remain more aggressive than buyers. Open interest on futures contracts also remained high, indicating that leverage cleaning was still only partial.
The break of the 200-day moving average, located around 73200 dollars, shifted attention to the 68000 dollar area. Liquidation maps showed a concentration of positions there likely to attract the price.
However, it does not constitute a guaranteed support. A liquidation map identifies zones where contracts could be closed. It does not measure the amount of actual buy orders available to defend a price. If capital inflows remain weak, BTC can cross this zone without building a lasting floor.
A level of 52700 dollars derived from CVDD is also mentioned, an indicator based on the value and age of bitcoins moved on the blockchain. Previous lows in 2015, 2018, 2020, and 2022 formed near this measure. However, this figure is not a forecast. CVDD evolves with on-chain activity and can rise without Bitcoin necessarily falling that far.
The next stabilization will therefore depend less on an isolated chart threshold than on three simultaneous reversals: stopping ETF outflows, resuming stablecoin supply, and net spot buying. As long as these flows do not improve, liquidating long positions will not be enough to form a bottom. It will simply leave behind a less indebted market, but still deprived of buyers.
