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# Why Is Crypto Falling? Who Is Selling, and Why Now
- URL: https://whalewatchdaily.com/analysis-2026-11-15-why-crypto-is-falling/
- Published: 2026-11-15T12:18:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-15T14:08:54.000Z
- Description: Daily stock & crypto intel: insider purchases, market moves and the news that matters.
- Author: Jan Lassig
- Tags: Analysis

> Compiled from public data and news reports as of 15 November 2026\. Facts and context, not investment advice and not a forecast.

## ⚡ In short

- **Bitcoin is about 47% below its October 2025 record**, Ether about 62% and Solana about 74%. By the usual definition (20%+ below a high) that is bear-market territory.
- **No single seller is behind it.** Several groups are selling at once: investors pulling money out of Bitcoin ETFs, leveraged traders whose bets were closed automatically, and mid-sized holders.
- **The main pressure comes from outside crypto:** inflation is rising again, markets now expect the Federal Reserve to **raise** rates in December, the 10-year US Treasury yields 5.1% and the dollar is strong.
- **Money is leaving crypto:** the supply of stablecoins - the "cash" parked inside crypto - shrank by about $16 billion in 30 days.

## 📉 The numbers

|                                 | 10 Nov  | 14 Nov                |
| ------------------------------- | ------- | --------------------- |
| Bitcoin (BTC)                   | $74,900 | $67,100               |
| Crypto Fear & Greed Index       | 32      | **13 – Extreme Fear** |
| Stablecoin supply, last 30 days |         | **−$16.4B**           |
| Total crypto market value       |         | $2.3 trillion         |

Over the weekend several outlets reported Bitcoin briefly near $62,000\. It is heading for its sixth weekly loss in a row.

Bitcoin · 12 months

Ether · 12 months

S&P 500 · 12 months

US dollar index · 12 months

Charts by TradingView.

## 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Who is selling?

**1\. Bitcoin ETF investors.** US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw roughly $1.9 billion of net withdrawals over seven trading sessions (5-13 November), according to Farside data cited by [crypto.news](https://crypto.news/bitcoin-price-falls-62000-etf-outflows-liquidations/?ref=whalewatchdaily.com). BlackRock's fund recorded 11 days of outflows in a row. ETFs were the biggest new buyers in 2024-25 - now they are net sellers.

**2\. Leveraged traders - not by choice.** On 13 November about $1.4 billion of crypto derivatives positions were liquidated in 24 hours, and around 89% of them were bets on rising prices ([CryptoTimes](https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/11/13/bitcoin-price-crashes-below-69k-as-crypto-liquidations-top-1-41-billion/?ref=whalewatchdaily.com)). When a leveraged position runs out of margin, the exchange sells it automatically. Each forced sale pushes the price lower and can trigger the next one.

**3\. Mid-sized holders.** On-chain data from CryptoQuant shows wallets holding 100-1,000 BTC sold about 50,500 BTC during the fall, and small wallets about 14,400 BTC, while the largest wallets (1,000+ BTC) added about 47,000 BTC ([KuCoin](https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/btc-whales-accumulate-47-000-during-24-drop-mid-sized-holders-sell-more?ref=whalewatchdaily.com)). Another analyst reports the opposite for the largest holders - a drop of 34,000 BTC ([ZyCrypto](https://zycrypto.com/bitcoin-whales-sell-34000-btc-worth-2-6b-as-price-slides-toward-67000/?ref=whalewatchdaily.com)). Wallet data is hard to read: coins moving between wallets or custodians are not always sales.

**4\. Long-term holders - earlier.** According to Glassnode data quoted by 21Shares, long-term holders reduced their balances by about 248,000 BTC in the third quarter - selling into the market before the latest leg down.

**5\. Companies holding Bitcoin - mostly not selling.** We found no reports of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) selling. Metaplanet sold 10,000 BTC in Q3 and bought 11,000 back to show rating agencies it could raise cash ([Yahoo Finance](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/metaplanet-sold-10-000-bitcoin-182436416.html?ref=whalewatchdaily.com)); it has since reported a loss and is being removed from an MSCI index ([crypto.news](https://crypto.news/bitcoin-metaplanet-stock-falls-4-percent-msci-exit/?ref=whalewatchdaily.com)). These companies were a steady source of buying in 2025; that demand has slowed.

## 🏦 Why now? The pressure from outside crypto

- **Inflation is back above 4%.** US consumer prices rose 0.4% in October, more than the 0.3% expected. Over 12 months inflation is 4.1%, up from 3.0% a year earlier (BLS via FRED).
- **The Fed is expected to raise rates, not cut them.** Futures markets priced roughly an 88% chance of a quarter-point hike at the 9 December meeting and some chance of a half-point move ([Cointelegraph](https://cointelegraph.com/news/hot-us-inflation-raises-rate-hike-crypto?ref=whalewatchdaily.com), [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/10/market-spooked-because-now-the-fed-may-need-a-supersized-hike-in-december.html?ref=whalewatchdaily.com)). Bank of America now expects hikes in December, January and March ([Crypto Briefing](https://cryptobriefing.com/bank-of-america-forecasts-fed-rate-hikes-in-december-2026-january-and-march-2027/?ref=whalewatchdaily.com)).
- **Safe assets pay more.** The 10-year Treasury yields 5.10%, a year ago about 4.1%. When a government bond pays 5%, assets with no yield, like Bitcoin, look less attractive to many investors - and borrowing to buy crypto costs more.
- **A strong dollar.** Higher US rate expectations have lifted the dollar, which has often coincided with weaker crypto prices.
- **Tech stocks and a giant IPO.** A sell-off in AI-related stocks and the upcoming Anthropic IPO (up to about $64 billion, expected around 19 November) are cited by some as pulling money from risky assets ([CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/11/13/bitcoin-slides-to-usd68k-as-nvidia-turmoil-anthropic-ipo-fuel-broader-market-sell-off?ref=whalewatchdaily.com)). Others argue the effect is smaller than it looks ([Decrypt](https://decrypt.co/383001/morning-minute-what-anthropics-1-4-trillion-ipo-means-for-crypto?ref=whalewatchdaily.com)). It is a widely discussed, but unproven, factor.

## 🐻 Is this a bear market?

By the common shorthand - **a fall of 20% or more from a high** \- yes: Bitcoin is about 47% below its record. In earlier crypto bear markets (2018 and 2022) Bitcoin fell roughly 75-85% from its peak before recovering; whether anything similar happens this time is unknown. Nobody can reliably tell where a bottom is.

## 👀 What to watch next

| Date / signal                         | Why it matters                                                        |
| ------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **9 December – Fed decision**         | A quarter-point vs. half-point hike, and what the Fed says about 2027 |
| **November inflation (mid-December)** | Another hot reading would strengthen the case for more hikes          |
| **Bitcoin ETF flows**                 | A turn from outflows to inflows would show buyers returning           |
| **Stablecoin supply**                 | Growth again would mean new money entering crypto                     |
| **Liquidations and funding rates**    | While leverage is being flushed out, sharp moves are more likely      |

We track these every day in the **Market Pulse** and **Crypto Money-Flow Radar** sections of our daily report.

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*Sources: our own data from CoinGecko, DefiLlama, alternative.me and FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis); news reports linked above. Figures from different outlets vary and should be treated as approximate. This article is information only and not investment advice.*