On November 14, 2025, Bitcoin’s price fell below the critical $100,000 mark, intensifying market fears and testing the resilience of investors. This decline was part of a broader downturn, driven by significant institutional outflows and a massive liquidation of leveraged positions.
A Market Under Pressure
The drop below the psychologically important $100,000 level was sharp, with Bitcoin’s price falling to around $97,000 and even briefly dipping below $98,000 during Asian trading hours. This pushed the cryptocurrency more than 20% below its October peak, a threshold that traditionally signals a bear market.
A key driver of the downturn was a historic exodus from Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). On Thursday, November 13th, investors pulled approximately $8.67 billion out of spot Bitcoin ETFs, marking the second-largest single-day withdrawal since their launch. This suggests that the large, institutional investors who were once a reliable source of demand have become a significant source of selling pressure.
The situation was exacerbated in the derivatives market. As prices fell, over $10 billion in leveraged cryptocurrency positions were liquidated within a 24-hour period. The vast majority of these—around $880 million—were bets on prices rising, indicating that over-optimistic traders were caught off guard, and their forced selling accelerated the downward move.
The Perfect Storm of Negative Catalysts
Several factors converged to create this challenging environment. Macroeconomic pressures played a major role. Hopes for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December faded dramatically, with market-implied probabilities falling from near certainty to around 50%. Higher interest rates for longer make risk-sensitive assets like cryptocurrencies less attractive.
Furthermore, the end of the prolonged U.S. government shutdown failed to provide a sustained boost to market sentiment. Adding to the uncertainty, the White House indicated that key economic reports for October, including consumer price data, might never be released due to the disruption, leaving the Fed and investors to make decisions in the dark.
Weak economic data from China, showing a sharper-than-expected cooling in industrial production and investment, also contributed to a global risk-off mood that quickly spread to crypto markets.
Navigating the Road Ahead
For traders and institutional treasuries, the immediate focus is on key support levels. Analysts at 10X Research have identified $93,000 as the next critical level to watch. Perhaps more significantly, JPMorgan has flagged $94,000 as a “pain threshold” for Bitcoin miners. A sustained break below this level could force mining companies—key players in the ecosystem—to sell off their Bitcoin reserves to cover operational costs, potentially creating a self-reinforcing downward spiral.
Despite the short-term panic, long-term believers remain vocal. Michael Saylor of MicroStrategy expressed unwavering confidence, stating he has “no doubt” Bitcoin will eventually become a larger asset class than gold. However, for now, the market is grappling with the reality of a major sentiment shift. The path forward likely depends on whether macroeconomic pressures ease and if the $94,000 support level can hold against the current wave of selling.
