Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is trading around $87k, and the mood in crypto markets? It’s dark, like 2022 bear market dark. The top cryptocurrency’s down about 2% in the last 48 hours and can’t seem to hold steady above $80,000, a level that’s got traders pretty worried.

Investor Confidence Collapses To Historic Depths

Sentiment indicators are screaming red across the board. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index suggests extreme panic mode. We haven’t seen fear this intense since late 2022, when crypto was in full meltdown.

10x Research’s sentiment tracker tells a similar story. It’s dropped below 5 points, with the three-week average at just 10%. Here’s the thing: historically, when fear gets this bad, prices tend to bottom out soon after. But predicting exactly when? That’s the tough part, especially with all the macro uncertainty floating around.

Both retail traders and big institutions are nervous right now. Volatility’s still high, sellers keep hammering prices, and nobody seems willing to step in and buy the dip yet.

November Shaping Up As Worst Month In Years

Bitcoin’s given back about 30% from its October high near $126,000. Most of this year’s gains? Gone. The coin dipped to $80,000 overnight before catching a bid, and November’s shaping up to be the worst month we’ve seen since the 2022 bear market.

The pain’s not just Bitcoin. It’s everywhere. Total crypto market cap has fallen to around $2.9 trillion, and get this: nearly 9 out of 10 major coins are down over the last 48 hours. This is a full blown market wide selloff.

Bitcoin miners aren’t having a good time either. Hashprice, basically what miners earn per unit of computing power, has crashed below $35 per petahash. That’s an all-time low. With mining difficulty still climbing, some operations are actually unplugging their machines because they’re losing money on every block. According to TheMinerMag.com,, network hashrate (7-day moving average) has dropped from 1.12 zettahashes per second in mid-November to about 1.06 now.

Capital Flight From Crypto Investment Vehicles Accelerates

U.S. Bitcoin ETFs are bleeding cash as investors pull out. The outflows are massive and they’re not stopping. A complete turnaround from earlier this year when everyone was piling into these newly approved funds.

It’s not just Bitcoin ETFs getting hit. Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) funds saw over $74 million walk out the door in a single day last week, while ETH itself dropped more than 3% in the past 48 hours. When sentiment flips, it flips fast.

Macro problems aren’t helping either. The Fed keeps sending mixed signals about December rate cuts. Odds have dropped from 69% to 64% recently. Crypto usually does better when rates are low, so all this uncertainty from the central bank is just one more thing dragging prices down.

Critical Technical Junctures And Potential Stabilization

Traders are glued to a few key price levels right now. The $80,000 to $82,000 zone is make or break support. If that cracks? $75,000 could come fast. On the flip side, Bitcoin needs to climb back above $90,000 and actually stay there before anyone can say the bleeding’s stopped.

Not everyone’s bearish, though. Crypto advocate John Deaton thinks Bitcoin could still hit $110,000 by year end. He’s calling this a temporary shakeout, not a fundamental break in the bull market.

Technical indicators show Bitcoin’s getting pretty oversold. We haven’t seen readings this low since February. That’s usually led to relief rallies in the past. But here’s the reality: past patterns don’t guarantee anything, especially in markets as wild as crypto.

Here’s something interesting: not everything’s red today. Bitcoin Cash jumped about 4.6%, and World Liberty Financial climbed approximately 4%. So there’s still some speculative money out there. It’s just being picky about where it goes.

Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.