Crypto is bleeding again, and this time it is not just red candles. It is a full-market tide shift. Bitcoin’s drop from its October all-time high of $126,000 to the $91,000–94,000 range today has erased almost 26% of its value, according to Coinbase price data. A correction of this size is enough to rattle traders, but the real story is happening beneath the surface, where altcoins are not simply correcting. They are collapsing.
In every crypto cycle, Bitcoin sets the direction. Altcoins supply the drama. This week has been no different. As BTC slid toward the low-$90,000 zone, the rest of the market fell much harder, with many tokens plunging between 40% and 70% in the same window.
Data from Investing.com confirms that several mid-cap and small-cap coins have suffered deep, extended declines over the last two months, far outpacing Bitcoin’s drawdown. A correction at the top becomes a quake at the bottom. That is the math.
Why altcoins hurt more: Liquidity gravity
The common myth is that altcoins drop harder because they are “weak.” The truth is more structural. Bitcoin is the liquidity anchor of the entire market. When uncertainty rises, whether from macro warnings, ETF outflows, or leveraged positions unwinding, capital rotates back toward Bitcoin, not away from it.
This creates liquidity gravity. Money flows inward, consolidating around the deepest and most stable pools. That consolidation is what pulls altcoins underwater. Even Ethereum, the strongest altcoin by market cap, has struggled to hold upward momentum, slipping from the $3,500–3,700 zone earlier this quarter to around $2,900–3,100, reflecting a decline consistent with broader market risk-off behavior.
Below Ethereum, the pain becomes sharper.
- Solana (SOL) has fallen from $205 in early October to the $130–140 range, a nearly 35% drop.
- Cardano (ADA) is down more than 40% from its summer levels, retracing gains that had taken months to build.
- Smaller caps and meme coins have been hit even harder, with several retracing 60–75%, according to Reuters’ coverage of the October and November downtrend.
In other words, altcoins are not victims of Bitcoin’s decline. They are amplifiers. They convert Bitcoin’s pain into a market-wide earthquake.
A reset, not a collapse
Despite the drama, what is happening now is not a historic breakdown; it is a reset. A necessary one. Every major cycle has followed the same path: a euphoric climb, a stretched valuation phase, a rise in open interest, and then a sharp correction that flushes excess leverage out of the system.
This is the same pattern we saw in:
- In 2013, BTC fell 70% before rallying to new highs.
- In 2017, when altcoins collapsed ahead of Bitcoin’s recovery.
- In 2020 and 2021, when leveraged longs vanished overnight, the bull market continued.
Today’s market cap tells the same story. Crypto’s total value has contracted to roughly $3.2 trillion, down from its October peak above $4 trillion, but still dramatically higher than the $1.6 trillion recorded in early 2024. That is not a collapse. That is cycle breathing.
The real risk: Misreading the cycle
The danger is not the correction itself. It is the assumption that the correction means everything has changed. Markets do not fall because they are dying. Markets fall because they are alive. They inhale and exhale. They expand and contract. Bitcoin’s retracement is the exhale, the release of pressure built over months of aggressive price appreciation.
Altcoins simply sit closer to the surface of the water. When Bitcoin’s wave pulls back, they are left exposed.
Where the market goes next
Short term, volatility remains the rule. Analysts from Trading News warn that Bitcoin may retest the $89,000–94,000 zone several times as liquidity stabilizes. Long term, the mechanics remain unchanged: BTC resets, altcoins overreact, liquidity rebuilds, and new leaders emerge.
The smartest investors in the Gulf, the U.S., East Asia, and Europe all recognize the same truth:
- Bitcoin commands the tide.
- Altcoins ride the tide.
- And when the tide goes out too fast, some of them capsize.
The splash zone is part of the cycle. Not the end of it.
