On Friday, 21 November 2025, the cryptocurrency market suffered one of its sharpest single‑day resets since the 2022 “crypto winter,” with global market capitalization sliding back under the $3 trillion mark. Bitcoin briefly crashed toward $80,000 on some derivatives venues before stabilizing in the low‑$80,000s, dragging the entire asset class lower.
Key takeaways
- Global crypto market cap: Around $2.8–$2.9 trillion, down roughly 8–9% in 24 hours, with over $240 billion in trading volume, according to CoinMarketCap and other trackers. [1]
- Bitcoin today: BTC is trading in the $82,000–$84,000 range after a flash crash to about $80,000 on derivatives exchange Hyperliquid; spot prices on major platforms hit multi‑month lows below $84,000. [2]
- Liquidations: Derivatives data show close to $2 billion in long positions wiped out over the past 24 hours, with hundreds of thousands of traders liquidated. [3]
- Value erased: Analysts estimate $1–1.2 trillion in crypto market value has evaporated in roughly six weeks, as the total cap has fallen from around $4.2T in early October to below $3T this week. [4]
- Altcoins hit harder: Major altcoins like Ether, Solana, XRP, BNB and Cardano are down 8–15% in 24 hours and roughly 20–35% from their November highs. [5]
- Macro backdrop: Fading expectations of a Fed rate cut in December, a global tech‑stock sell‑off and record outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs are amplifying the crypto downturn. [6]
Global crypto market capitalization today: just under $3 trillion
By late morning UTC on 21 November 2025, most major data providers agree on one key headline number: the crypto market’s total value is now below $3 trillion again.
- CoinMarketCap’s “Today’s Cryptocurrency Prices by Market Cap” page shows a combined crypto market capitalisation of about $2.85 trillion, a 9% drop over the last day. Over the same period, 24‑hour trading volume surged to roughly $245 billion, up more than 37%, with DeFi accounting for about 8.5% of that turnover and stablecoins nearly 94%. [7]
- A separate snapshot from Anadolu Agency, using CoinMarketCap data, puts the global cap at $2.87 trillion, down 8.5% in 24 hours, underlining the scale of the daily loss even as the exact figure varies slightly by provider. [8]
- Market‑data site Blockworks likewise tracks the total at roughly $2.87 trillion, with Bitcoin around $83,500 and a BTC market cap near $1.67 trillion. [9]
- Coinbase’s market dashboard, using its own pricing universe and denominated in euros, reports an overall crypto market cap of about €2.43 trillion (roughly the same order of magnitude in dollars), down about 12% week‑on‑week. [10]
Taken together, the data paint a consistent picture:
The crypto market has lost high single‑digit percentages of its value in just 24 hours, on top of a far larger drawdown since early October.
At the start of that period, the global crypto cap sat near $4.2 trillion; by Thursday, it had already slipped under $3 trillion, and today’s accelerated sell‑off has deepened the damage. [11]
Bitcoin: from record highs above $120K to the low‑$80Ks
Bitcoin remains the gravitational centre of the move.
Earlier in October, BTC set new all‑time highs above $120,000–$126,000, buoyed by record inflows into spot ETFs, a buoyant AI‑driven stock rally and a wave of corporate “bitcoin treasury” strategies. [12]
Since then, it has endured a dramatic reversal:
- Business Insider estimates that Bitcoin has dropped roughly 31% from its early‑October peak above $126,000 to the mid‑$80,000s, leaving it negative for 2025 year‑to‑date. [13]
- Reuters reports that BTC fell below $86,000 this week for the first time since April, with about $1.2 trillion wiped off the combined value of all cryptocurrencies in six weeks. [14]
- Anadolu notes that by around 08:50 GMT today, Bitcoin was trading near $83,800, down more than 9% over 24 hours, with its market cap shrinking to roughly $1.67 trillion and its weekly loss swelling to nearly 14%. [15]
On top of the steady grind lower, today brought a sudden jolt: a flash crash.
The Hyperliquid flash crash
On derivatives exchange Hyperliquid, Bitcoin suddenly dropped from about $83,300 to roughly $80,255 within a single minute at 7:34 UTC, before snapping back to the $83,000 area just as quickly. [16]
According to CoinDesk’s market coverage:
- At least five large accounts were liquidated during that minute, each worth around $10 million, with the largest single liquidation topping $36 million. [17]
- On other major centralized exchanges, the intraday lows held somewhat higher, but spot prices still sank into the low‑$80Ks, marking the lowest levels since mid‑April across much of the market. [18]
The rapid drop and rebound underline just how thin order books became at the worst point of today’s sell‑off — and how heavily leveraged many traders still were.
Nearly $2 billion in forced liquidations
Today’s slump is not just about spot selling; leverage has turned a painful decline into a rout.
Data cited by CoinDesk and other outlets show:
- Roughly $1.7–1.9 billion worth of crypto derivatives positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours, the majority of them longs betting on higher prices. [19]
- Of this, about $960 million was in Bitcoin positions, and more than $400 million in Ether, with the rest spread across major altcoins. [20]
- Close to 400,000 individual trader accounts were forced out, and the single largest wiped‑out position was a BTC trade worth around $36–37 million — consistent with the losses seen on Hyperliquid’s flash crash. [21]
These liquidations come on top of an even larger wipe‑out back on 10 October, when about $19–30 billion in leveraged bitcoin positions were flushed in what analysts have called the largest bitcoin liquidation event in history. [22]
That earlier shock effectively marked the top of the market. Since then, open interest in perpetual futures has fallen about 35% from October’s peaks, according to derivatives data cited by CoinDesk, further reducing liquidity and making today’s moves more violent. [23]
Altcoins, DeFi and Layer‑1s: deeper drawdowns than Bitcoin
While Bitcoin dominates headlines, altcoins are bleeding even more in percentage terms.
Major altcoins today
Across large‑cap tokens:
- Ether (ETH) fell below $2,750, down nearly 14% over the past week and around 10% in 24 hours, trading roughly in the $2,700 range. [24]
- Solana (SOL) slid more than 10% in a day and over 20% from its November highs, trading around $125–130. [25]
- XRP, BNB and Cardano (ADA) have all posted daily drops in the 8–15% range, with month‑to‑date corrections between 20% and 35% from their peaks earlier in November. [26]
Real‑time snapshots from CoinMarketCap and Coinbase confirm the scale of the damage: ETH sits near a $320–330 billion market cap, BNB and XRP around $100–115 billion, and Cardano near $14–15 billion, each down sharply on the week. [27]
DeFi and smaller caps
Live coverage from Cryptonews describes a “harsh correction” in Layer‑1, DeFi and Layer‑2 sectors, with double‑digit losses in tokens such as NEAR and other smaller caps, while even relatively defensive narratives like GameFi have only offered “brief reprieves.” [28]
At the same time, DeFi volumes now represent less than 10% of 24‑hour trading, while the overwhelming majority of activity flows through stablecoins, according to CoinMarketCap’s breakdown. [29]
That shift toward dollar‑pegged tokens mirrors a classic flight to liquidity: traders are selling volatile assets into stablecoins, waiting on the sidelines to see whether this drawdown marks a local bottom or the start of something more prolonged.
Macro headwinds: Fed repricing, tech rout and ETF outflows
Today’s collapse in crypto market capitalization is not happening in isolation.
Fed expectations flip, labour data surprise
Anadolu Agency highlights that Bitcoin’s latest leg lower came as hopes for a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut in December faded following stronger‑than‑expected labour market data released on Thursday. [30]
According to CME FedWatch numbers cited in that report:
- Odds of a 25‑basis‑point cut in December have dropped from about 64% a week ago to roughly 33% today, pushing investors back toward safer assets. [31]
Higher‑for‑longer policy expectations tend to hurt high‑duration, speculative assets first — and crypto is very much in that category.
Tech stocks and global risk sentiment
Reuters reports that cryptocurrencies are being swept up in a broader “flight from risk”, as lofty AI‑driven tech valuations come under pressure and volatility indices spike. [32]
- Global stock indices are on track for their worst week in about seven months, according to a separate markets wrap from Bloomberg. [33]
- Bitcoin’s short‑term correlation with the S&P 500 has climbed to around 0.84 on a one‑month rolling basis — unusually high, reinforcing its role as a risk‑asset barometer rather than a pure “digital gold” hedge. [34]
ETF outflows and spot selling
The damage is not limited to derivatives:
- Crypto asset manager 21Shares notes that long‑term holders have sold roughly 42,000 BTC (about $4 billion) so far in November. [35]
- U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded three straight weeks of net outflows, including about $866 million in redemptions on Thursday, 20 November alone — their second‑largest outflow day on record, according to Business Insider and other ETF trackers. [36]
- CoinDesk adds that U.S.‑listed bitcoin ETFs saw more than $900 million in net outflows on Thursday, and that total ETF redemptions for November have now climbed to multi‑billion‑dollar levels. [37]
Analysts at JPMorgan and VanEck, cited by several crypto outlets, argue that spot ETF selling by retail investors is a major driver of the current decline, particularly as earlier “buy the dip” flows have dried up. [38]
Sentiment: “Extreme fear” and talk of a cycle top
If valuation and flows tell one side of the story, sentiment gauges tell the other.
- The popular Crypto Fear & Greed Index has plunged to around 11, deep in the “extreme fear” zone and its lowest reading since late 2022, according to CoinDesk’s market summary. [39]
- On‑chain analytics firm CryptoQuant describes today’s conditions as “the most bearish” since the current bull cycle began in early 2023, warning that the market has “likely seen most of this cycle’s demand wave pass.” [40]
That bleak tone is echoed by many commentators:
- A Business Insider piece notes that the crypto meltdown has wiped out more than $1 trillion in market value since early October, testing even long‑term bulls. [41]
- A separate Reuters analysis puts the total value of crypto at around $3.2 trillion as of earlier this week, reinforcing that while the asset class is still large, today’s slide has meaningfully shrunk its footprint. [42]
- Some venture investors, such as Placeholder VC, have been quoted warning that the “era of selling has just begun”, suggesting the downturn may be more than a brief correction. [43]
Yet, remarkably, optimism hasn’t disappeared:
- Long‑time bitcoin bull Tom Lee told Bloomberg he still sees a path for BTC to climb toward $200,000 by the end of January, and even speaks of long‑term potentials in the millions per coin, despite today’s prices hovering around $90,000 or lower. [44]
- Veteran trader Peter Brandt likewise floated a $200,000 target in recent commentary, arguing that the current crash could be part of a larger bullish structure — though his view remains firmly in the minority given the market’s present mood. [45]
The result is a market split between deep short‑term pessimism and stubborn long‑term optimism, with both sides pointing to the same price action as proof of their thesis.
What today’s market cap means for investors and observers
For anyone watching crypto market capitalization today, a few themes stand out.
1. Volatility is still structural, not incidental
The combination of:
- high leverage,
- concentrated liquidity on a handful of venues, and
- heavy use of derivatives and ETFs
means that small changes in macro expectations can still trigger outsized moves in Bitcoin and the broader crypto complex. Flash crashes like the one on Hyperliquid are symptoms of this structure, not random anomalies. [46]
2. Correlation with traditional markets is rising
Bitcoin’s tight link to equities, the Fed and AI‑driven tech stocks suggests that crypto is trading more like high‑beta tech than an uncorrelated hedge. For portfolio construction, that matters far more than any single‑day price print. [47]
3. The system is big, but still relatively contained
Even after this pullback, crypto’s total value near $2.8–2.9 trillion is enormous in absolute terms. Yet Reuters notes that this represents only a small slice of global financial markets; bank and ETF exposures, while growing, remain modest relative to the scale of traditional assets. [48]
That’s why regulators worry more about stablecoin runs and ETF plumbing than about Bitcoin’s spot price; the risk is in the connections, not just the market cap number itself.
4. Watch these metrics after today’s sell‑off
In the coming days, market participants will be watching:
- Total crypto market cap: Does it stabilize above the $2.5T–$2.8T band, or does selling pressure push it deeper into bear territory? [49]
- Bitcoin support levels: Whether BTC holds the $80,000 area and prior April lows around $74,000 is critical for medium‑term structure. [50]
- ETF flows: Another wave of large net outflows from spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs would reinforce the bear case; stabilization or a return to inflows would be the first sign that institutional capital is stepping back in. [51]
- Sentiment gauges: If the Fear & Greed Index and on‑chain indicators remain in extreme fear for an extended period, past cycles suggest the market may be approaching a capitulation phase — though timing that precisely is notoriously difficult. [52]
Final note: information, not investment advice
Cryptocurrencies remain high‑risk, highly volatile assets. The figures above describe what is happening in the market today — they are not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any particular coin or token.
Anyone considering exposure to digital assets should:
- Do independent research into the specific coins, platforms and counterparties involved.
- Understand the role of leverage and the risk of total capital loss.
- Be aware that market capitalization can change dramatically in hours, as today’s move from above $3T to well below that threshold vividly demonstrates.
References
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