(MENAFN- The Rio Times) Bitcoin's brutal correction has pushed the world's largest cryptocurrency into a kind of financial purgatory: hovering in the mid-$80,000s after weeks of headlines about a 30% crash, shaken ETFs and“easy money” speculation meeting a much harsher market.

From an October peak near $126,000, roughly a third of Bitcoin's value and about $1.2 trillion in total crypto market cap have been erased, marking its worst week since the FTX implosion.

Behind the sell-off is an old-fashioned cocktail of tighter money and overconfidence. Concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve will delay rate cuts, stretched AI-stock valuations and fading risk appetite pushed leveraged traders to the exits.

As margin calls hit, forced liquidations rippled through exchanges. Several analysts say key market-making desks, already wounded by October's $20 billion liquidation wave, have pulled back liquidity, making every sell order bite deeper.

This morning, Bitcoin trades around 84,500 USDT, up slightly on the day but still trapped below its short-term moving averages.

Ethereum sits near 2,760 USDT, Solana at 128, XRP just under 2, and Litecoin around 83. Most large caps are flat to mildly negative.

Under the surface, however, the casino is still open: Bitcoin Cash has jumped about 15%, WLFI nearly 20%, while small caps like MMT and TRUST have exploded higher.




After The $1.2 Trillion Wipeout, Is Crypto Punishing Excess Or Nearing A Reset?
Others, such as Tensor (TNSR), STRK and SUI, are giving back huge speculative gains, with TNSR down more than 40% in 24 hours.

Institutional flows tell a more sober story. Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have just logged some of their heaviest daily outflows on record, roughly $1.6 billion in a single session.

Yet investors are not walking away from crypto altogether. Solana and XRP exchange-traded products have quietly attracted close to $900 million in combined inflows, including about $476 million into U.S. Solana funds and more than two weeks of uninterrupted buying.

Stablecoin reserves have climbed toward $72 billion, suggesting plenty of dry powder waiting for clearer opportunities.

Technically, Bitcoin's four-hour chart hints at a tentative attempt to form a base: momentum indicators are still negative but no longer accelerating, and RSI has crawled out of extreme oversold territory.

The daily chart, by contrast, remains decisively bearish, with price well below key averages and RSI in the low 20s.

Important support now clusters between roughly $84,000 and $73,000 – a“max-pain” band that overlaps with the average entry levels of major ETFs and long-term corporate holders.

Ethereum shares Bitcoin's deep drawdown and ETF redemptions, while Solana and XRP sit in the uncomfortable gap between heavy spot selling and strong ETF demand.

Litecoin clings to multi-month support near the low-80s inside a long-running consolidation pattern.

For now, fear dominates. But record stablecoin balances, disciplined rotation toward projects seen as more robust, and the defense of Bitcoin's long-term trend line suggest a market that is punishing excess rather than abandoning the asset class outright.

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