Crypto Markets Decline as Bitcoin Profitability Under Pressure, Analysts Say

Crypto markets remain on edge on Tuesday, Nov. 18, as Bitcoin briefly dropped below the $90,000 mark for the first time since April, while most large-cap altcoins hold steady, and many posting weekly losses in the double digits.

Earlier today, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) shortly dropped to as low as $89,164 on BitMEX, before bouncing back above $90,000. As of press time, BTC is trading down 2% on the day at $92,600.

Ethereum (ETH) is also down 1.3% over the past 24 hours, trading at around $3,100. Among the top-10 altcoins by market capitalization, only BNB and SOL are up on the day, around 1%, while the remaining assets are flat or slightly down.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index, a market sentiment indicator, is showing extreme fear for the third day in a row.

Profitability Under Pressure

Analysts at glassnode noted their weekly market overview on Monday that Bitcoin is navigating a “period of consolidation following a sharp drop, with oversold momentum and moderating outflows hinting at early signs of stabilization.”

They added that “profitability remains under pressure,” noting that the appearance of exhaustion signals suggests the market “may be forming a local bottom” around the $94,000-$100,000 range.

Iliya Kalchev, an analyst at crypto platform Nexo, told The Defiant in commentary that crypto’s market cap remains under pressure, with sentiment “currently pessimistic but technically oversold.” As Kalchev explained, immediate support for Bitcoin now sits near $91,000-$90,000, with a deeper band around $85,000-$84,000.

Big Movers and Liquidations

Among the top-100 assets, perpetual swaps DEX Aster’s ASTER and Internet Computer’s ICP are the best performers, up 12% and 9% on the day, respectively.

On the downside, Zcash (ZEC) and Mantle (MNT) are the top losers today, down 15.8% and 8.7%, respectively. For ZEC, the decline came even though the Winklevoss-backed Zcash treasury company Cypherpunk announced an additional $18 million purchase of ZEC today.

As The Defiant reported earlier, the new ZEC DAT aims to hold at least 5% of the total Zcash supply.

Data from Coinglass shows that over $806 million in leveraged positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with longs accounting for $686 million, and shorts for nearly $120 million. BTC liquidations led with over $429 million liquidated, followed by ETH with $172 million, and SOL with $47 million.

ETFs and Macro Conditions

On Monday, spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds saw another $182 million in net outflows, per data from SoSoValue. Meanwhile, spot Bitcoin ETFs saw more than $254.5 million in net outflows, bringing total net asset value to $121 billion.

On the macro front, Nexo’s Kalchev pointed out that both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed under their 50-day moving averages yesterday for the first time since April. Asian markets followed the U.S. lower, and Japan lagged the most as long-term bond yields climbed and fiscal worries picked up again.

There’s also still no clear view on what the U.S. Federal Reserve will do in December at its next meeting. However, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Monday that he supports another rate cut as he’s getting worried about the labor market and the sharp slowdown in hiring, CNBC reported.

All eyes are now on Thursday’s delayed U.S. jobs report for September, alongside other catch-up releases, which will “help reset expectations,” Kalchev noted.