The Daily: Crypto selloff deepens, JPMorgan blames retail BTC and ETH ETF outflows, 24-hour liquidations top $2 billion, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Friday! The ongoing crypto sell-off may be relentless, but we'll try to keep things upbeat as we dive into the latest news.

In today's market crash special, bitcoin plunges further as U.S. jobs data dampens rate cut hopes, JPMorgan says the correction appears to be driven by retail selling of BTC and ETH ETFs, crypto liquidations top $2 billion in 24 hours, and more.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials probe Chinese bitcoin-mining machine giant Bitmain over national security concerns.

P.S. Don't forget to check out The Funding, a biweekly rundown of crypto VC trends. It's a great read — and just like The Daily, it's free to subscribe!

Bitcoin plunges toward $80K as US jobs data dampens rate cut hopes

Bitcoin is trading near $84,000, recovering after plunging to new local lows of approximately $80,500 earlier on Friday, triggered by stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data.

• The delayed September payrolls report showed 119,000 new jobs versus the 50,000 estimate, reinforcing inflation concerns and weakening hopes for a December rate cut, Kronos Research CIO Vincent Liu said.
• Liu added that thin liquidity and short-term profit-taking are amplifying the drop as traders recalibrate risk around shifting macro expectations.
• Even if the Fed cuts in December, Liu argued that bitcoin needs fresh capital, renewed onchain demand, and a halt in quantitative tightening to sustain any meaningful rebound.
• The Crypto Fear & Greed Index now sits at 11 — comparable to the 2022 bear market lows — signaling extreme fear as the broader crypto market cap slid below $3 trillion for the first time since May.
• However, LVRG Research Director Nick Ruck said the pullback reflects a healthy repricing of overextended positioning, with onchain metrics hinting that capitulation may be nearing completion.

JPMorgan says correction appears driven by retail selling of BTC and ETH ETFs

JPMorgan analysts said the latest crypto correction is being driven mainly by retail outflows from spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, with about $4 billion pulled from the funds so far in November.

• Retail investors have simultaneously poured roughly $96 billion into equity ETFs this month, showing the crypto sell-off isn't part of a broader retreat from risk, they argued.
• The analysts noted that while crypto-native deleveraging has stabilized since October, more traditional retail investors have shown this split before — selling crypto ETFs while buying equities.
• "It would thus be a mistake to extrapolate the selling of crypto ETFs as a signal that retail investors are turning bearish on risk assets more broadly including equities," they wrote.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs see near-record outflows of $903 million

Continuing on the ETF theme, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs logged $903 million in net outflows on Thursday — their second-largest daily drawdown ever — marking a sharp sentiment reversal from earlier this month.

• BlackRock's IBIT, Grayscale's GBTC, and Fidelity's FBTC led the exodus as Nvidia's accounts receivable scare hit both tech and crypto, BTC Markets analyst Rachael Lucas noted.
• However, cumulative inflows into the funds still total $57.4 billion, with $113 billion in AUM, suggesting participants are trimming exposure rather than abandoning bitcoin outright, Lucas said.
• Spot Ethereum ETFs saw $261.6 million in daily outflows, while newly launched altcoin ETFs bucked the trend with strong inflows led by $105.4 million into Bitwise's XRP fund and modest gains across Solana and HBAR products.

Crypto liquidations top $2 billion in 24 hours

Over $2 billion in leveraged crypto positions were wiped out in the past 24 hours amid bitcoin's latest plunge, triggering one of the largest liquidation waves of the year and the biggest since Oct. 10.

• CoinGlass data shows that around 400,000 traders were wiped out, with the single-largest order — a $36.8 million BTC-USD position — taken out on Hyperliquid.
• However, it's important to note that liquidation data is imperfect, with partial reporting from some crypto exchanges meaning headline totals likely understate the true scale of forced unwinds.
• BRN Head of Research Timothy Misir said bitcoin is entering a capitulation zone, with short-term holders realizing losses at cycle-level extremes, and a failure to reclaim $88,000 to $90,000 risks a further slide toward $78,000.
• Meanwhile, Bitwise's Andre Dragosch said bitcoin is nearing a potential "max-pain" reset, with institutional cost bases clustered around $84,000 and $73,000 — zones where forced sellers historically exhaust and recoveries often begin.

Crypto treasury firms buckle as crash erodes nearly half of combined market caps

Digital asset treasury firms are taking heavy damage, with their combined market caps nearly halving from a $176 billion peak in July to about $99 billion today, tracking the sharp decline in crypto prices.

• The combined value of crypto holdings held by DATs has also fallen from $141 billion when bitcoin made an all-time high on Oct. 6 to $104 billion as of Nov. 21, according to The Block's data dashboard.
• Strategy, Bitmine, and Forward Industries are all seeing steep stock drawdowns as their respective BTC, ETH, and SOL positions unwind, and although Michael Saylor's firm remains above water, many DATs are now sitting on deep unrealized losses.
• Meanwhile, Saylor said Friday that Strategy's conviction in bitcoin is "unwavering," pushing back against the idea it may be removed from MSCI indexes amid the stock's sell-off.

Looking ahead to next week

• U.S. PPI data are out on Tuesday. U.S. jobless claims, PCE, and GDP figures follow on Wednesday, alongside the UK budget statement.
• ECB President Christine Lagarde will speak on Monday.
• Tornado Cash, Euler, Monad, Blast, and Wormhole are among the crypto projects set for token unlocks.
• Devconnect concludes in Buenos Aires. The Australian Crypto Convention gets underway.

Never miss a beat with The Block's daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.