Crypto Market Snapshot: November 22, 2025 – Blood in the Streets or Healthy Reset ?
As the weekend begins, the cryptocurrency market is licking its wounds after one of its roughest weeks since the 2022 bear market lows. Total market capitalization has slipped to $2.88 trillion, down roughly 1.7% in the last 24 hours and nearly 20% from the euphoric highs hit earlier this month. For the first time in weeks, Bitcoin is trading under $85,000, Ethereum is struggling to hold $2,700, and most layer-1 altcoins are down double digits over the past seven days.
Yet beneath the red candles, something familiar is taking shape: capitulation.
The Numbers Tell the Story
- Bitcoin (BTC): $84,438 (+1.3% in the last 24 hours after touching $81,868 yesterday)
- Ethereum (ETH): $2,749 (+1.4%)
- Solana (SOL): ~$140 (−10.6% in recent sessions)
- XRP: ~$0.52 (−9.1%)
- Dogecoin (DOGE): bouncing hard today with +5–6% after yesterday’s carnage
Liquidations across perpetual futures topped $1.1 billion in the past 48 hours, with long positions getting absolutely torched. Open interest has dropped sharply, a classic sign that weak hands are being shaken out.
Why the Sudden Pain ?
- Macro headwinds: Rising U.S. Treasury yields and a stronger dollar have triggered a risk-off move across equities and crypto alike.
- ETF bleed: Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw their largest single-day outflow since launch on Thursday, with over $400 million exiting the funds.
- Corporate treasury anxiety: Several public companies that loaded up on Bitcoin above $100k now have underwater holdings, raising fears of forced sales if $80k breaks.
- Profit-taking after the post-election parabola: The November rally from $69k to nearly $110k was one of the fastest in Bitcoin’s history; gravity eventually reasserts itself.
Bright Spots in the Darkness
While headlines scream “crash,” quieter developments are unfolding:
- On-chain data shows whale wallets (1,000+ BTC) accumulating at the fastest weekly pace since January 2025.
- The CME Bitcoin futures basis has flipped into modest backwardation, historically a medium-term bullish signal.
- Today, November 22, marks the global go-live date for SWIFT’s ISO 20022 migration, a behind-the-scenes upgrade that makes it far easier for banks to transmit structured data alongside payments, effectively laying plumbing that benefits stablecoins and tokenized assets.
- Meme coins and privacy coins are outperforming: Zcash is up over 25% in 24 hours, and Dogecoin is once again defying gravity on retail enthusiasm.
What Comes Next ?
Veteran chartists are split. Some see a retest of the $74–78k zone (the previous all-time high zone turned support) as probable before any sustainable rebound. Others argue the speed of the sell-off has already burned through most of the leverage, setting the stage for a violent snap-back rally, especially if the Fed signals a December rate cut next week (currently priced at ~72% probability).
One thing is clear: the “everything only goes up” narrative that dominated the past six weeks has been decisively broken. That’s painful in the short term, but it’s also what keeps this market cyclical rather than a one-way moonshot.
For long-term believers, corrections like these are where fortunes are made, not lost. The 2024–2025 bull market still has multiple chapters left, but the easy money phase appears to be over, at least for now.
Stay nimble, manage your leverage, and keep some dry powder. The next leg, whenever it arrives, rarely gives second chances at these prices.