Bitcoin Near $91K as Extreme Fear Grips Market, $1B in Liquidations Hit Traders

Bitcoin (BTC $84,390.27) hovered around $91,400 on Tuesday as market sentiment plunged to “extreme fear,” volatility spiked, and leveraged traders absorbed more than $1 billion in liquidations. Ether (ETH $2,745.25) traded near $3,060, while most altcoins continued their slide.

The crypto Fear & Greed Index has dropped to 15/100, a level last seen in April before Bitcoin defied bearish expectations by surging from $76,000 to over $100,000 in a month. While sentiment suggests a potential bounce, Bitcoin may first test the $87,500 support level to flush out remaining leveraged positions before attempting to move higher.

As Warren Buffett famously said, “Buy when there is blood in the streets, even if it’s your own.” Traders willing to take measured risks at these levels may find opportunities, though others continue to trade emotionally—Monday saw a cautionary example as one trader lost $5.5 million after shorting the bottom with 30x leverage.

Derivatives and Volatility
Over the past 24 hours, more than $1 billion in leveraged crypto futures positions were liquidated, with long positions accounting for most of the losses. Volmex’s BVIV, which measures 30-day implied BTC volatility, briefly spiked to an annualized 55% during Asian hours, the highest since the October 10 crash.

BTC futures open interest (OI) reached a six-week high of 730,550 BTC, with rising OI alongside falling spot prices confirming a downtrend. ETH futures OI remains steady around 12.5 million. Perpetual funding rates for most tokens, excluding TRX, remain mildly positive despite the liquidations. On Deribit, BTC and ETH options show a stronger bias for puts, highlighted by BTC $90,000 strike puts expiring Nov. 28 and ETH $4,000 call rollovers.

Altcoins and Market Performance
The privacy coin sector experienced heavy selling, with Zcash (ZEC $516.84) and Dash (DASH $56.45) falling 14% and 9%, respectively, outpacing losses in ETH and XRP. Some tokens bucked the trend—ASTER and HYPE, linked to decentralized derivatives exchanges, rose 8.5% and 5%.

The wider market remains deflated: the CoinDesk 10 index, excluding Bitcoin, lost 3.8% over the past 24 hours, adding to a monthly decline of 19.7%. Traders may shift focus to Bitcoin as a historically less volatile safe haven amid market turbulence.

A series of lower highs and lower lows across altcoin pairs highlights ongoing downtrends. However, previous bull markets have seen corrections of 30%, suggesting that the market has not yet entered “crypto winter” territory.