Bitcoin Crashes Toward $80K as ‘Great Crypto Crash of 2025’ Turns Q4 Into Worst Slump Since 2022

On November 21, 2025, Bitcoin slid toward $80,000, capping its worst month since the 2022 crypto collapse as a $1–1.2 trillion wipeout, ETF outflows, and a global flight from risk slam digital assets and tech stocks alike.

Bitcoin price today, November 21, 2025

Bitcoin’s brutal November just went from bad to historic.

On Friday, November 21, 2025, Bitcoin fell as much as 6.4% intraday to around $81,600 before recovering slightly to trade near $84,000 in early London trade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and reported via Yahoo Finance and TS2 Tech. ^[1]

That slide puts the world’s largest cryptocurrency on track for its worst monthly performance since the 2022 crypto collapse, with losses of roughly 23% in November alone—a drop not seen since June 2022, when the TerraUSD implosion and FTX’s downfall ripped through digital-asset markets. TechStock²+1

Ethereum has been dragged along for the ride. The second‑largest token has fallen more than 7% at times this week to below $2,700, hitting a four‑month low as part of a broad selloff across major altcoins. ^[2]

Zooming out, Bitcoin is now down around 20–23% in November, over 30% below its early‑October record high above $120,000, and negative for 2025 year‑to‑date, erasing what had looked like a strong post‑ETF rally just weeks ago. ^[3]

From record highs to the “Great Crypto Crash of 2025”

The drawdown caps what multiple outlets have started calling the “Great Crypto Crash of 2025.”

Bloomberg estimates that more than $1 trillion in market value has been wiped from crypto assets since early October as Bitcoin tumbled to its lowest levels in seven months. ^[4]
Reuters puts the figure even higher in recent weeks, noting that about $1.2 trillion has vanished from the total crypto market cap over a six‑week stretch. ^[5]
Economic Times and The Times of India both highlight Bitcoin’s plunge to the high‑$80,000s earlier this week and echo the trillion‑dollar wipeout framing. ^[6]

This crash follows a euphoric rally that sent Bitcoin to all‑time highs north of $120,000 in early October, powered by spot ETFs, institutional inflows and a narrative that crypto had finally “gone mainstream.” ^[7]

That narrative has now flipped. According to a note cited by Bloomberg and reiterated in TS2 Tech’s market wrap, November’s drop is Bitcoin’s steepest month since the 2022 crisis, when cascading failures—from Terra to FTX—defined the last major bear market. TechStock²+1

A global flight from risk is hammering crypto

The crypto crash isn’t happening in isolation. It’s unfolding against a broader flight from risk across global markets:

Reuters reports that Bitcoin and Ether slumped to seven‑ and four‑month lows on Friday as investors dumped risk assets amid fears that lofty AI‑stock valuations and fading hopes for near‑term U.S. Federal Reserve rate cuts could unwind a year’s worth of gains. ^[8]
UK and European stock indices opened sharply lower on Friday, with The Guardian’s live markets blog pinned on “AI bubble” worries and rising volatility—sentiment that mirrors crypto’s slide. ^[9]

For many traders, Bitcoin has long served as a barometer of risk appetite. Its sudden reversal from record highs to bear‑market territory in a matter of weeks is being read as a signal that global risk sentiment has turned sharply cautious.

Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG quoted by Reuters and Economic Times, warned that if Bitcoin is telling the story of risk sentiment, “things could start to get really, really ugly.” ^[10]

How big is the damage? $1–1.2 trillion erased, and counting

The numbers behind the wipeout are stark:

$1–1.2 trillion in crypto market value has evaporated in roughly six weeks, according to CoinGecko figures cited by Reuters and multiple international outlets. ^[11]
A separate Bloomberg analysis highlighted that the latest leg lower added another round of steep losses after Bitcoin briefly stabilized above $90,000 earlier in the week. ^[12]

This is not just about token prices:

Hong Kong‑listed spot Bitcoin ETFs from China AMC, Harvest and Bosera fell close to 7% on Friday, underscoring how regulated products have not been immune to the selloff. ^[13]
Crypto‑linked equities are also under heavy pressure. MicroStrategy—often seen as a proxy for institutional Bitcoin exposure—has dropped about 11% this week, slipping to one‑year lows, while Japan’s Metaplanet has plunged around 80% from its June peak, according to Reuters and ET’s recap. ^[14]
Major listed players such as Coinbase and Bitcoin miners like MARA Holdings and CleanSpark are also in the red, extending multi‑week losing streaks. ^[15]

Put simply: this is a system‑wide de‑risking, not a small altcoin correction.

Leverage, liquidations and ETF outflows: why the drop is so violent

Several structural factors are amplifying the move lower.

1. Leverage and derivatives

The current crash is closely linked to excess leverage built up during the Q3–Q4 rally:

A record single‑day liquidation event on October 10 wiped out roughly $19 billion in leveraged positions, erasing around $1.5 trillion from the combined market value of cryptocurrencies, according to analysis cited by CryptoQuant and detailed further by Cryptonews. ^[16]
Options platform Greeks.Live, cited by CCN, said Q4 is shaping up to be “the worst on record” for crypto investors, with tens of thousands of Bitcoin and hundreds of thousands of Ether options expiring into a falling market and implied volatility surging toward 50% for BTC and even higher for ETH. ^[17]

When prices start falling into such a leveraged setup, forced selling can cascade quickly—pushing spot prices well below what fundamentals alone might justify.

2. ETF outflows and institutional retreat

The same spot Bitcoin ETFs that helped drive the bull run are now accelerating the pullback:

Cryptonews, citing Bloomberg, notes that a group of US‑listed Bitcoin ETFs saw about $903 million in net outflows in a single day this week—the second‑largest daily redemption since their launch in early 2024. ^[18]
A separate Bloomberg‑linked report flagged record monthly ETF outflows of roughly $3.8 billion in November, highlighting how once‑enthusiastic institutional buyers are now stepping back. ^[19]
Open interest in Bitcoin perpetual futures has dropped around 35% from an October peak near $94 billion, reinforcing the message that leverage is leaving the system. TechStock²+1

3. Macro headwinds

The macro backdrop is hardly helping:

Expectations for rapid Federal Reserve rate cuts have cooled, lifting real yields and making speculative assets less attractive. ^[20]
At the same time, investors are questioning whether the AI‑stock boom has turned into a bubble, prompting them to unwind risk across both tech and crypto. ^[21]

The result is a textbook risk‑off episode where nearly everything that worked in the first three quarters of 2025 is now being sold.

Q4 wipeout: one of the worst in memory

Fortune this week described the ongoing slump as “among the worst Q4 wipeouts in memory”, noting that Bitcoin’s break below $90,000 for the first time since April has rattled even long‑time bulls. ^[22]

Other analysts have gone further:

Options and market‑structure specialists at Greeks.Live argue that data from the last three months “confirms we are in a bear market”, pointing to repeated breakdowns of key support levels and a decisive turn in options positioning. ^[23]
Placeholder VC partner Chris Burniske and Alliance DAO’s QwQiao have suggested the “era of selling has only just begun”, warning that another 50% decline from recent highs might be needed to fully flush out leveraged and late‑cycle buyers. ^[24]

At the same time, historical pattern‑watchers point out that this is not entirely unprecedented. Analyst Benjamin Cowen noted that Bitcoin has often topped in Q4 of the post‑halving year and then bottomed roughly a year later, framing the current slump as part of a familiar boom‑bust rhythm rather than a structural death blow. ^[25]

Is the bull market over—or is this “healthy consolidation”?

Despite the carnage, not everyone sees 2025’s Q4 as the start of a long winter.

Binance CEO Richard Teng argued on Friday that Bitcoin’s drop is largely in line with broader market deleveraging and risk aversion, stressing that:

Bitcoin has lost just over 21% in November and around 23% over the past three months, but
It is still trading at more than double its 2024 levels, after institutions like BlackRock and others helped drive a powerful 18‑month rally. ^[26]

Teng called the pullback a “healthy consolidation” phase, saying periods like this allow the industry to “take a breather” and reset for future growth. ^[27]

Similarly, Fortune’s piece on the Q4 wipeout notes that “better times may be ahead”, with analysts pointing to stronger regulatory frameworks, deeper institutional infrastructure and more mature on‑chain markets than during the 2018 or 2022 bear cycles. ^[28]

Veteran trader Peter Brandt struck a contrarian tone in comments highlighted by Cryptonews: while acknowledging the pain of the current dump, he called it “the best thing that could happen to Bitcoin” and suggested the next major bull market could still carry prices toward the $200,000 region later this decade. ^[29]

In other words, short‑term sentiment is grim, but long‑term conviction among some major players remains intact.

What this means for investors right now

For investors watching Bitcoin flirt with $80,000 and reading headlines about trillion‑dollar wipeouts, a few themes stand out:

Volatility is back to “crypto‑normal.”
Large swings—both up and down—are part of the asset class. Implied volatility near 50% for Bitcoin and even higher for Ethereum suggests that big intraday moves could continue. ^[30]
Leverage cuts both ways.
The same leveraged futures and options positions that supercharge bull runs can turn ordinary corrections into violent crashes once liquidations start. Keeping position sizes and leverage modest is critical in this environment.
ETFs now amplify, not just absorb, flows.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs have introduced a powerful new channel for both inflows and outflows. November’s near‑record redemptions show how quickly institutional sentiment can swing. ^[31]
Macro still matters.
Crypto may feel like its own world, but the current downdraft is tied tightly to interest‑rate expectations, equity‑market volatility and AI‑bubble fears. Watching central‑bank signaling and tech‑stock performance remains essential. ^[32]
Cycles haven’t disappeared.
Whether you side with the bears calling for much lower prices or the bulls calling this a “healthy reset,” the data suggests we are firmly in a post‑peak, de‑risking phase of the cycle.

Key levels and storylines to watch next

Looking ahead to the rest of Q4 and early 2026, traders and analysts are focused on a few crucial levels and narratives:

Bitcoin’s $80,000 zone – Citi analysts cited by Reuters note that the $80K area roughly matches the average purchase price for many ETF holders, making it a psychologically and structurally important line in the sand. ^[33]
Total ETF flows – Continued heavy outflows would reinforce the idea that institutional money is still exiting rather than buying the dip. A stabilization or reversal could signal that the worst of the forced selling is over. ^[34]
Macro catalysts – Any surprise shifts in Fed policy, inflation data or earnings from mega‑cap tech and AI players could quickly change the risk mood—either cushioning crypto or deepening the slide. ^[35]
On‑chain health – Metrics such as long‑term holder behavior, realized price bands and exchange balances will be watched closely to determine whether this selloff is driven more by short‑term speculators or a deeper capitulation.

Bottom line

As of November 21, 2025, Bitcoin is in the middle of a historic Q4 drawdown:

Worst month since the 2022 crypto collapse
Around $1–1.2 trillion erased from digital‑asset markets in just weeks
Heavy ETF outflows, surging volatility and a global risk‑off mood weighing on prices

Yet even amid calls that the “era of selling has just begun,” there are credible voices arguing that this is a necessary reset rather than the end of Bitcoin’s story.

For now, the data is clear: crypto is in a full‑blown risk‑off phase, and anyone trading or investing in this market needs to treat position sizing, diversification and time horizon as seriously as the price chart itself.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice. Cryptocurrency investing is highly volatile and you should never invest more than you can afford to lose.