Crypto market sheds $140 billion in four hours

The crypto market lost $140 billion in total market capitalization in about four hours.

The selloff, which hit on November 5, 2026, left the total value of all crypto assets at approximately $2.53 trillion. It also fits a pattern that has repeated across the past year: a fast, deep drawdown followed by a wave of forced selling in the derivatives market.

What happened in those four hours

The headline figure is simple. Total crypto market capitalization fell by $140 billion inside a four-hour window.

The decline brought the total market to about $2.53 trillion. For context, that is still above the roughly $2.37 trillion level the market touched during a comparable selloff on June 3, 2026.

A familiar script

This was not the first $140 billion drawdown in recent memory. Similar-sized drops showed up on at least two other occasions.

On December 16, 2025, a selloff of that magnitude pushed total market cap down to $3.02 trillion. Bitcoin was trading around $85,200 at the time.

On June 3, 2026, another drop of the same size took total market cap to $2.37 trillion, with Bitcoin near $65,300.

In each of those episodes, liquidations topped $1.6 billion. Long positions, meaning bets that prices would rise, made up as much as 89% of the positions wiped out.

Why leverage turns a dip into a cliff

In crypto derivatives markets, traders can borrow to amplify their bets. If prices fall far enough, exchanges automatically close those positions to cover the borrowed funds.

Those forced closures are sales. More sales push prices lower, which triggers the next batch of liquidations, which forces more selling.

That feedback loop is how a modest decline can snowball into a $140 billion hole in four hours. Elevated open interest, the total value of outstanding derivatives contracts, means there are more dominoes standing in the row.

Earlier episodes in the 2025 to 2026 stretch followed Bitcoin breaking below key technical levels. Once those thresholds gave way, liquidations accelerated and the broader market followed.

Sentiment hits the floor

Sentiment gauges, including fear and greed index readings and social media metrics, dropped sharply into “extreme fear” territory during these moves.

What this means for traders and investors

The biggest lesson from this selloff is structural, not fundamental. The repeated pattern of $140 billion drawdowns, each paired with liquidations above $1.6 billion, points to leverage as the main accelerant.

The heavy skew toward long liquidations, up to 89% in prior episodes, also says something about positioning. Traders have repeatedly leaned bullish heading into these drops, which suggests the market keeps rebuilding the same crowded bets.

The levels to watch are the ones the market has already tested. The $2.37 trillion low from June 3, 2026, sits below the current roughly $2.53 trillion mark, and Bitcoin’s behavior around key technical thresholds has been the trigger in past episodes.