Bitcoin Drops to $81K as Liquidations Top $2 Billion
Olivia Capozzalo & yyc trader
November 21, 2025
gm, Defiers!
Today’s big story:
- Crypto liquidations reached over $2 billion today, with BTC trading as low as $81,000, and alts seeing double-digit losses
In other news:
- MegaETH announces pre-deposit campaign
- Dinari integrates interop protocol LayerZero
- Kalshi, Polymarket raise at new valuations: report
- What is Oasis Vault? Exploring the Modern Solution to Self Custody [SPONSORED]
- Unpack privacy-by-design in action [SPONSORED]
Read more below! But first, please give our sponsors some love; they make this newsletter possible.
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📈 Markets in the Past 24 Hours
| TICKER | VALUE | 24H | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Bitcoin | $83,918 | -7.42 % |
 | Ethereum | $2,735.06 | -8.06 % |
 | XRP | $1.93 | -8.28 % |
 | BNB | $819.25 | -8.34 % |
 | Solana | $127.05 | -9.01 % |
Today’s Big Story
Crypto Capitalization Drops Under $3 Trillion
After a month of relentless selling, Bitcoin is now down 10% in 2025 as it trades at $84,000, leading the total crypto market capitalization to fall under $3 trillion for the first time since April.
Major altcoins have cratered over the past four weeks, with ETH, and SOL losing nearly a third of their value while most smaller coins have fared much worse. The only notable exceptions are Zcash (ZEC, Internet Computer (ICP) and Aster, which managed to post gains despite the turbulent market conditions.
Top 100 30-day performance
Fed Jitters
While crypto markets initially rebounded from the tariff-fueled flash crash of October 10, the selloff began to intensify after Fed Chair Jerome Powell surprised the market on October 29 by saying that that a further rate cut in December wasn’t guaranteed.
This hawkish stance sparked an exodus from risky assets and has caused the U.S. dollar to rally to its highest level since July. The odds of a December cut, which stood at 98% a month ago, fell under 40% earlier this week. However, they are up to 71% again after Fed officials spoke out in favor of further cuts.
Expectations for December Fed Meeting
DATs Under Pressure
At the same time, digital asset treasury (DAT) companies, which were responsible for much of the buying pressure over the summer, are facing pressure as they trade under their net asset values (NAV).
Some, like ETHZilla and FG Nexus, have already sold some of their holdings, sparking fears of a wider DAT unwind and putting a further damper on investor sentiment.
Extreme Fear Prevails
After the carnage of the past month, it’s no surprise that investor sentiment is in the dumps, with the Fear and Greed Index sitting in the teens for most of the week.
Historically, such capitulation events have proven to be good buying opportunities. Will this time be different?
yyctrader, degen in chief at The Defiant
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🎬WATCH
Tokenize Everything: Robert Leshner’s Vision for On-Chain Finance
In the latest episode of The Defiant Podcast, Cami sits down with Robert Leshner — the mind behind Compound, and now the founder of Superstate — to discuss why DeFi itself shouldn’t change, but assets will, how tokenized T-bills, basis strategies, and even equities are finally getting institutional traction, and what happens when DeFi becomes the infrastructure powering TradFi.
Pluis. what he’d do differently after Compound’s messy transition to decentralized governance.
The End of the Chain? FastSet’s Parallel Settlement Layer for Instant Micropayments [SPONSORED]
We build systems on the belief that one step must follow another, a total order enforced on every action. But what if that sequence is the very thing holding us back? What if, to achieve true scale, we must abandon the chain?
This episode of Defiant Voices features Grigore Roșu, co-founder and CEO of Pi Squared. He introduces FastSet, a massively parallel settlement layer designed for a future of AI agents and instantaneous micropayments. Drawing from a deep background in formal verification, Gregor details how FastSet’s “embarrassingly parallel” design achieves uncapped speed by allowing validators to work independently, yet still reach consensus through mathematically proven properties. We explore its unique tokenomics, EVM compatibility, and the roadmap to its mainnet launch.
Top News in the Past 24 Hours
- MegaETH Announces $250 Million Pre-Deposit Campaign Highly anticipated Ethereum Layer 2 network MegaETH finalized its ICO allocations today, and on Nov. 25, the chain will open a pre-deposit bridge for all users who registered for the ICO via Sonar. Why it matters: MegaETH’s ICO made waves when it attracted $1.4 billion in commitments last month, competing for a $50 million allocation at a $999 million market capitalization.
- Dinari Integrates LayerZero to Offer Cross-Chain Access to Tokenized US Equities Dinari announced Thursday that it is integrating LayerZero, an interoperability protocol, enabling its tokenized U.S. stocks, known as dShares, to trade and settle across multiple blockchains. Why it matters: The integration also comes as on-chain trading platforms record rising activity, led by TradeXYZ protocol on Hyperliquid.
- Kalshi Goes Head to Head With Polymarket Following $1B Funding: Report The prediction market's reported raise was at a valuation of $11 billion, just days after reports that Polymarket is looking to raise funds at $12 billion. Why it matters: The prediction market sector just had its strongest month yet in October, with Kalshi and Polymarket processing a combined $7.4 billion in volumes.
Trending on The Defiant
- MegaETH Announces $250 Million Pre-Deposit Campaign
- Polymarket Seeks $12 Billion Valuation After Record-Breaking Month
- Bitcoin For America Act Would Allow Tax Payments in BTC
- Crypto Market Holds Steady as Traders Digest Delayed US Jobs Report
- Securitize to Launch Institutional Assets on Plume’s Nest Protocol
- BlackRock Registers Staked Ethereum Trust
That’s it for today — if you enjoyed this newsletter, tell your friends! https://thedefiant.io/subscribe
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