Over 70% of Bitcoin investments are underwater as prices drop, triggering record ETF volume and growing market stress.
Bitcoin dropped toward the $80,000 region and triggered heavy stress across the market. The slide pushed a large share of active capital into losses and set off a heavy change in sentiment.
The move also drove record volume in spot Bitcoin ETFs as traders searched for new footing.
Bitcoin Drop Shows Large Share of Capital Underwater
Bitcoin erased a large part of its gains from the October peak near $126,000. The coin fell to a seven month low and cut around 35% from that high. Data from Checkonchain shows that more than 70% of the dollars invested in Bitcoin now sit below break even.
This chart shows the USD value of every coin in the Bitcoin supply priced when it last transacted onchain.
Think of this as our collective invested cost basis.
Over 70% of the USD invested in Bitcoin is now underwater. pic.twitter.com/9o89sg5y7d
— _Checkmate 🟠🔑⚡☢️🛢️ (@_Checkmatey_) November 21, 2025
Analyst James Check explained that around 71.2% of the network’s realized capitalization holds a cost basis above $86,500. For context, this indicator measures the prices of each coin at its last on chain move.
It shows the average entry point for active investors.
Bitcoin dropped under that level and has now trapped many holders who bought in the past year. These buyers entered during rallies near the highs and are now facing losses that grow as price drifts lower.
This zone now holds a dense cluster of volume that shows short term stress.
Market Stress Builds As Unrealized Losses Grow
One of Glassnode’s most popular indicators is the Relative Unrealised Loss indicator. This tracker measures loss levels of the average trader. Recently, the reading jumped to 8.5%.
A healthy bull run usually holds this measure under 5%, and the spike indicates a strong change in the mood of the market.
This rise points to a market reset rather than a normal period of price swings.
The Relative Unrealized Loss in the market is now trading at 8.5%.
📉https://t.co/7VWlmcu84i https://t.co/kmfckmV6ix pic.twitter.com/2UKM7a8ggj
— glassnode (@glassnode) November 21, 2025
Many holders who once sat on gains now hold coins they bought at higher levels. That change can push traders to step back, reassess or sell into weakness.
Bitcoin saw a small bounce and traded near $84,543 at press time. The small recovery has not eased the pressure felt across retail holders and many still watch price action for signs of a deeper slide.
Sentiment Sinks To Two Year Lows
Santiment also reported drops in Bitcoin related sentiment. Retail traders are now showing high levels of fear and have posted strong bearish remarks. Panic selling now appears in many comments across major platforms.
Sentiment readings now sit at the lowest level since December 2023.
📊 Bitcoin's sentiment across social media has officially dipped to its lowest point since December 11, 2023. According to bullish vs. bearish comments on X, Reddit, Telegram, and others, retail is capitulating and panic selling at a significant level we haven't seen in 2 years. pic.twitter.com/4Hi0iTgsHO
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) November 21, 2025
That period marked a major washout in retail activity and came after the FTX crash. So far, some traders view such deep fear as a sign that weak hands are leaving the market.
This idea tends to appear during fast sell offs when social feeds turn negative. Deep fear can appear near local bottoms and market history shows several times where extreme negativity lined up with later rebounds.
Still, each cycle plays out in its own way and traders should move carefully.
Related Reading: Bitcoin ETFs Volume Erupts – BlackRock’s IBIT Leads the Charge With $8 Billion
ETF Volume Hits Record Levels During Market Stress
Spot Bitcoin ETFs posted the busiest session in their history. Trading volume hit $11.5 billion as market stress grew. Data from Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas showed strong activity across all twelve spot funds.
Balchunas noted that heavy volume often shows up when traders reassess positions. Some choose to cut exposure while others add during drops. These bursts of activity release liquidity across the market and the day showed strong two way action from large and small holders.
ERUPTION in volume for the bitcoin ETFs.. all time record set today with $11.5b as a group. $IBIT was $8b of that, which was all time record for it. Wild but also normal- whenever an ETF or category is 'going through it' volume is elevated. ETFs are liq release valves. pic.twitter.com/DpK7frfWjr
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) November 21, 2025
BlackRock’s IBIT led volume by a large margin. It recorded around $8 billion in turnover and made up more than 69% of all spot ETF trades that day. This was the fund’s busiest session since it launched.
IBIT still saw 122 million dollars in outflows that day while other ETFs offset some of that loss. Fidelity’s FBTC and others posted more than $238 million dollars in inflows and these mixed flows show that many investors changed positions rather than leave the market altogether.
