On November 3, 2025, cryptocurrency markets suffered a brutal $1.2 billion liquidation wave, with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) at the forefront, as leveraged long positions collapsed amid thin liquidity and macroeconomic jitters, per Yellow News. BTC rejected highs near $112,000, plunging to $106,000—its lowest since mid-October—triggering 90% of losses from longs ($1.14B), while shorts accounted for just $128M, per CoinGlass data. ETH followed, dropping 7% to $3,621, with altcoins like Solana (SOL) (-10% to $167) and XRP (-7% to $2.34) amplifying the pain, per CoinGecko. Over 300,000 traders were liquidated, marking one of the largest deleveraging events in recent weeks, per.
Liquidations occur when leveraged positions fall below maintenance margins, forcing automatic closures on platforms like Hyperliquid ($374M wiped, 98% longs), Bybit ($315M), and Binance ($250M), per. The largest hit was a $33.95M BTC-USDT long on HTX, exemplifying how thin order books in low-liquidity Asian hours amplified the cascade, per. Prominent traders like Machi Big Brother reportedly lost millions, with futures open interest at $30B signaling persistent leverage, per CoinGlass. Kronos Research’s Vincent Liu attributes the drop to profit-taking and deleveraging, noting “investors are in wait-and-see mode,” with ETH’s $4,200 as a key pivot, per. X posts from @slingdeez lament the event’s devastation on conviction holders, per [post:0].
While BTC saw $298M in liquidations, altcoins fared worse: ETH ($273M), SOL (over 10% drop), and Dogecoin (-9%) highlighted risk aversion, per. Ethereum-based longs dominated losses, with Balancer hack ($128.6M stolen across chains) exacerbating DeFi TVL drops, per. XRP and BNB also tumbled, as speculative appetite waned, per. U.S. spot BTC ETFs recorded $799M net outflows last week, with BlackRock’s IBIT losing $1.15B, reflecting institutional pullback, per TradingView. Pseudonymous analyst Maartunn warns of “fragility” in ETH charts, noting multiple support retests as bearish signals, per CryptoQuant.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish October comments—“December rate cuts are not a foregone conclusion”—dashed hopes for easing, boosting the dollar and pressuring risk assets like crypto, per. The FOMC’s 25 bps cut to 3.75%–4.0% range left “strongly differing views” on future policy, per. Presto Research’s Peter Chung notes an 85% September cut probability via CME FedWatch, but a dovish Jackson Hole speech (August 22) could spark a rally, driving BTC to $120,000 and ETH to $4,500, per. Geopolitical tensions, including Trump’s tariff threats, echoed the $19B liquidation on October 10–11, per CoinDesk. Stablecoin volumes hit $19.4B YTD, but Ethena USDe dipped to $0.9996 amid peg stress, per.
BTC’s rejection at $113,000 coincided with a Coinbase Premium Index at -$30, indicating U.S. net selling, per. Market depth collapsed 98% ($1.2M to $27K) on perpetual venues, per. Arkham data shows a Bitcoin OG opening $37M BTC and $18M ETH longs on Hyperliquid post-dip, signaling contrarian buying, per. Funding rates eased from highs but stay positive, suggesting bullish positioning persists, per. Fear & Greed Index at 51 (neutral) and 11.95% volume-to-cap ratio for ETH indicate deep liquidity for recovery, per CoinCodex. V-shaped rally likelihood is moderate-high, per, but extended consolidation risks persist if BTC breaks $106,000, triggering $6B more liquidations, per Glassnode.
BTC support at $106,000 and resistance at $112,000; ETH at $3,875 liquidity cluster risks a fake-out before breakout, per. Track Fed statements on federalreserve.gov and ETF flows on SoSoValue. Dollar-cost average into BTC or ETH with stop-losses below $106,000 and $3,500, or diversify into USDC, per TradingView. Follow @TheBlock__ on X for updates. This $1.2B wipeout clears excess leverage, potentially setting up a healthy correction for $150,000 BTC by 2026, per Coinpedia, but macro uncertainty and institutional retreat demand caution, per.
