The cryptocurrency market stumbled at the start of November, with Bitcoin and Ethereum both experiencing steep declines, triggering massive liquidations and further pressuring market sentiment. Amid a lack of positive macroeconomic catalysts, investor sentiment has clearly turned defensive, with trading structures reflecting heightened risk aversion.

Bitcoin fell over 3% on Monday, briefly plunging from $108,000 to $105,000 in a sharp sell-off, breaching its 200-day moving average and raising concerns about key support levels below $100,000. The selling pressure primarily came from long-term holders, with approximately 400,000 BTC (about 2% of circulating supply) sold in October. However, Bitcoin’s price did not see deeper retracements, suggesting underlying demand remains resilient. Analysts note that the current market structure—where supply is absorbed by spot ETFs, institutional accounts, and long-term savings wallets—differs from past cycles, leading to slightly reduced volatility. Still, "resilience ≠ reversal," and without positive macroeconomic shifts, a sustained rebound remains uncertain.

Ethereum’s drop was even more severe, plummeting nearly 9% intraday and breaking below the critical $3,600 support level. Since its August peak of $4,885, ETH has fallen roughly 25%. Funding rate pressures also emerged, with perpetual contract rates weakening since mid-October and turning negative on multiple exchanges—indicating short-sellers now pay to hold positions, reflecting growing bearish sentiment. Deribit data shows a notable increase in Ethereum put options expiring November 28, particularly at strike prices of $3,700, $3,500, and below $3,000, signaling traders are betting on further downside.

Adding to on-chain and technical pressures, a sudden security breach further rattled investors. Ethereum-based DeFi protocol Balancer reported a hack potentially exceeding $100 million, marking the latest in a series of recent setbacks. Meanwhile, crypto-related stocks also declined, with Circle (CRCL.US) dropping over 7%, Coinbase (COIN.US) down 3.8%, and MicroStrategy (MSTR.US) falling 1.8%.

Derivatives and liquidation data underscore the market’s damage. Coinglass reported 319,433 positions liquidated in the past 24 hours, totaling over $1.2 billion—with longs accounting for 90% ($1.1 billion) and shorts just $115 million. Within one hour of Bitcoin and Ethereum’s sharp declines, combined liquidations exceeded $100 million.