Global crypto markets plunged on Friday as prices fell and forced a widespread sell-off, according to exchange and on-chain data. Bitcoin fell below $83,000, while Ethereum was trading below $2,800. The breakdown forced about $2 billion worth of positions into bankruptcy, damaging confidence and causing rapid losses on key tokens.
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Heavy Liquidations Rock Traders
Reports indicate there were more than 390,000 accounts wiped out during the move. A single BTCUSD order on Hyperliquid totaled $37 million, a sign of how heavy the selling became. Bitcoin took the brunt: About $962 million in BTC positions were cleared in 24 hours, with long bets making up almost $931 million of that total. These figures underline how concentrated the damage was among those who bet on higher prizes.
Long positions versus shorts
Long liquidations across the market approached $1.78 billion, while short liquidations were much smaller at almost $130 million. A rapid shift followed a strong U.S. jobs report, which removed the prospect of a rate cut in December and led to about $450 million in liquidations in just two hours. This macro surprise appears to have gone straight into traders’ risk management systems.
Expiration of options raises the stakes
Derivatives activity added pressure as more than $4.2 billion in crypto options were set to expire that day. There were more than 39,000 BTC options, worth almost $3.4 billion, on the docket. The longer-term put-call ratio was 0.52, but heavy recent put buying pushed the 24-hour ratio up to 1.36, signaling a hedging eruption.
The so-called maximum pain level for Bitcoin was around $98,000, well above the level at which spot trades occurred. Ether options were also prominent, with more than 185,000 contracts worth nearly $525 million set to expire. ETH’s 24-hour put call rose from 0.72 to 1.01, and the maximum pain in the options market was around $3,200, above spot prices of almost $2,800.
Altcoins felt the impact
The route spread quickly. Solana fell 11% to around $126, while XRP fell over 8% to around $1.91. Other tokens that fell in the wave were ASTER, HYPE, TNSR, DOGE and ZEC. Sales were broad, showing that the move was not limited to one market or sector.
#PeckShieldAlert Next $ETH‘s drop below $2,900, a whale (0x3ee3…42a6) was liquidated on their long $wstETH position.
The position from which the loan was made $USDC in return for $wstETH collateral, saw a total liquidation of $6.52 million. pic.twitter.com/mv30VuXFfn
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) November 21, 2025
Whale losses highlight the risk
Monitors on the chain identified major losses among significant holders. PeckShieldAlert reported individual ETH liquidations between nearly $3 million and $6.50 million.
This Anti-CZ Whale just liquidated during the market crash!
He was once a legend with earnings of almost $100 million – now his earnings have dropped to $30.4 million.https://t.co/UR55h4gK7l pic.twitter.com/5Tnp9UVEae
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) November 21, 2025
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Lookonchain tracked a high-profile account, Machi, whose total paper losses amounted to $20 million and whose balance after the hits was reported at just $15,530. Another major account, called the ‘Anti-CZ Whale’, also saw profits plummet on Hyperliquid.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView