Bitcoin and Ether suffered significant setbacks in early November 2025, while altcoins faced liquidity stress and widespread liquidations. Derivatives markets flashed caution as participants sought to maintain exposure without excessive leverage. Total market capitalization declined and futures signals turned defensive, affecting traders, institutional treasuries, and derivatives managers.
Bitcoin erased its summer rebound, falling more than 20% from the early October high of $126,000 to hover around the $105,000–$107,500 area. Key support sits at the 50-week simple moving average near $103,000, and a weekly close below $107,000 could accelerate declines toward $98,400 or even $72,000, according to CryptoQuant.
Ether dropped 25.6% and struggled around the $4,000 level, with an immediate threshold at $3,100 whose loss could intensify selling pressure. The move underscores the sensitivity of majors to technical levels amid waning momentum.
Total capitalization contracted by about 3.9% to $3.54 trillion, according to market counts. Liquidations surged to $1.7 billion in 24 hours, with longs making up 76% of forced losses and Ether leading notional losses at $572 million, highlighting fragility driven by leverage.
Derivatives and market pulse
Futures open interest fell to $25.3 billion from $26.0 billion, signaling deleveraging in line with the broader risk reset. This reduction indicates more cautious positioning as participants pare back exposure.
The three-month futures basis compressed to 3%–4% annualized, making carry trades between futures and spot less attractive. Funding rates stayed low, between 4%–9% annualized across major venues, reinforcing a softer leverage backdrop.
Options markets showed high implied volatility with short-term backwardation, reflecting elevated near-term risk. Even so, the put-call volume skew leaned 58%–42% in favor of calls, indicating a cautious preference for upside despite prevailing uncertainty.
Risk of liquidation cascades remains elevated in low-liquidity altcoins if BTC/ETH lose supports, with technical breaks likely to amplify moves. Basis trading strategies are less compelling given compressed spreads, while spot ETF flows turned negative with $755 million in aggregate outflows for BTC and ETH products. For institutional treasuries using derivatives, the combination of high IV and decreasing OI demands active risk management to avoid unintended leverage.
The next operational milestone is Bitcoin’s weekly close around $107,000; its confirmation or breach will define the next risk segment for altcoins and derivatives in the following week. Related: Bitcoin, Ether Under Pressure as Altcoins Reel, Futures Flash Caution.
