In this article, we will take a detailed look at how the drop in Bitcoin has unsettled the crypto market and put significant holders of digital assets at risk. What sentiments prevail in the US and Asia against the backdrop of a decline in high-tech stocks and uncertain interest rate prospects? Why might Strategy lose $8.8 billion, and how will this impact the market? Finally, how is the release of Gemini 3 by Google changing the dynamics in the AI space? All the key events of the week are covered in our report.
Bitcoin sinks below $85,000
The crypto market is experiencing one of its most alarming declines in recent months. The price of Bitcoin has fallen below $85,000, trading at $84,357 at the time of writing. This marks a low since April, representing nearly a 30% drop from the all-time high of $126,000 (set in early October).
This mass correction, of course, sparked a panic among investors and led to subsequent liquidations of positions amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. Analysts are starting to discuss the possibility of a market bottom approaching.
The decline in Bitcoin has triggered a chain reaction: according to data from the analytical platform CoinGlass, over the course of just one hour, positions worth more than $250 million were liquidated. The total liquidation amount for the day exceeded $910 million, forcing over 220,000 traders to close their positions amid margin calls, which were rampant on both centralized exchanges and in the DeFi segment.
The crypto market sentiment index, the Fear & Greed Index, has sharply dropped to 11, indicating an "extreme fear" status among market participants. Within a single day, the index lost four points, signaling an immediate deterioration in market sentiment.
The plunge in the flagship cryptocurrency also coincided with a significant event: one of the earliest major investors in Bitcoin, Owen Gundersen, has completely exited his position, selling all 11,000 BTC worth approximately $1.3 billion. He transferred the last 2,499 BTC to the Kraken exchange on the morning of November 20, as revealed by analysis from Arkham Intelligence.
"Veterans don't move large sums for fun; they do it to sell," one trader commented on social media regarding Gundersen's actions.
Underlying risks have intensified at the macro level as well. World investor and founder of Bridgewater Associates, Ray Dalio, expressed doubts about Bitcoin's long-term viability. During an interview with CNBC, he stated, "Bitcoin will not become a reserve currency for major states because it is traceable, subject to control, and may be vulnerable to hacking through quantum technologies in the future." Dalio also acknowledged that only about 1% of his portfolio is allocated to cryptocurrency.
Against the overall negative backdrop, an unexpected positive signal emerged in the form of inflows into cryptocurrency ETFs. On November 19, American Bitcoin ETFs reported a net inflow of $75 million, breaking a five-week streak of outflows during which investors pulled over $2 billion from the market.
The bulk of this inflow came from two major instruments – the iShares Bitcoin Trust and the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust. The turnaround occurred just one day after a record outflow of $523 million from BlackRock's IBIT.
Blockchain data analysis indicated the capitulation of short-term investors—those holding Bitcoin for less than 155 days. According to on-chain metrics, from November 14 to 19, they moved approximately 148,241 BTC to exchanges—all at a loss. The profitability metric for spent exits in this group of investors (Short-Term Holder Spent Output Profit Ratio) has decreased to 0.97, indicating mass selling below the acquisition price.
Conclusions and opportunities for traders
The massive sell-offs from whales and the capitulation of short-term investors, along with statements from influential figures and instability in the stock market, have created high volatility that can be exploited in trading. Price declines present opportunities for short-term speculation on rebounds and long-term investments for those who believe in a market recovery.
Amid renewed inflows into ETFs and mass liquidation of losing positions, the market may form a bottom, providing good entry points for new trades. All the trading instruments mentioned in this article, including Bitcoin and ETFs based on it, are available for trading on the InstaForex platform. To seize the market movement opportunities, open a trading account with InstaForex today. For added convenience, track positions and analyze the market anytime by simply downloading the InstaForex mobile app.
US and Asia shaken by sell-offs: fears surrounding AI and uncertainty from the Fed have crushed markets
Financial markets are once again shaken by instability: on Thursday, American stock exchanges experienced one of the most volatile sessions since April, and by Friday, Asian markets caught the downward trend. The cause of this turn was renewed concerns about a "bubble" in the artificial intelligence sector and diminished hopes for easing monetary policy from the Federal Reserve (Fed).
On Thursday, the S&P 500 index initially soared by 1.9%, but by the end of trading, it collapsed by 1.6%, closing at 6,538.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 386 points, or 0.8%, finishing at 45,752.26. The most significant drop was recorded by the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite; after rising 2.6% during the session, it ended the day down 2.2%, closing at 22,078.05.
One of the key figures of the trading day was tech giant Nvidia. The company reported impressive financial results for the third quarter, with revenue reaching $57 billion and a forecast of $65 billion for the next quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations.
Initially, Nvidia's shares rose by 5%, but investors quickly changed their sentiment: prices reversed downward, closing with a decline of 3.2%. This triggered a general weakening in the technology sector amid doubts about the prudence of massive investments in AI infrastructure. According to a Bank of America survey, a record number of investors believe that companies are "overinvesting" in AI development.
On Friday, Asian markets continued the negative trend. The Japanese Nikkei 225 dropped by 1.8%, while the South Korean KOSPI suffered the most significant losses at minus 4.09%. The region's tech giants were particularly hard hit: SoftBank's shares fell by more than 10%, Samsung Electronics dropped by 5.8%, and SK Hynix declined by 8.6%.
Investor uncertainty was further fueled by a delayed US employment report. While 119,000 new jobs were created in September (more than double the forecast of 50,000), the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%. The published data intensified disagreements regarding the Fed's future actions. According to CME Group data, the probability of a rate cut in December stands at about 40%, up from 30% the previous day, reflecting ongoing doubts about a shift in monetary policy.
Against this backdrop of sell-offs, cryptocurrency assets were also impacted. Bitcoin fell below $87,000, losing nearly $40,000 from its peak levels of last month, marking the lowest level since April. Shares of crypto companies also declined: Robinhood Markets dropped by 10.1%, while Coinbase Global fell by 7.4%.
The sharp decline in the shares of technology companies and cryptocurrency assets may signal concerns, but it simultaneously presents opportunities for traders who can profit from both rising and falling markets. In particular, the volatility of assets like Nvidia, Bitcoin, and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices provides ample trading opportunities for both short-term bearish plays and long-term investments based on rebounds.
MicroStrategy at risk of exclusion from indices: $8.8-billion outflow threatens market stability
This week, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), known for holding significant Bitcoin reserves, has come under scrutiny due to the potential exclusion of its shares from key stock indices. According to JPMorgan analysis, this could lead to a large capital outflow of up to $8.8 billion.
The decision for exclusion may be made by the international index provider MSCI as early as January 2026. Experts warn that such a development could deliver a serious blow to the investment attractiveness of Strategy.
Plans by MSCI to review the composition of its indices have been actively discussed since October. According to the company's statement, the proposal is on the agenda to exclude from Global Investment Indices firms whose digital assets (including cryptocurrencies) exceed 50% of their total assets. Consultations with market participants will continue until December 31, 2025, and a final decision will be announced on January 15, 2026. The implementation of potential changes is scheduled for February 2026 as part of the planned rebalancing of the indices.
"Some market participants pointed out that such companies resemble investment funds that are ineligible for inclusion in the indices," said representatives of MSCI in October.
According to JPMorgan's estimates, if MSCI decides to exclude Strategy, passive funds could withdraw up to $2.8 billion. Additionally, if other index providers follow MSCI's example, an additional $6 billion could be at risk. In total, about $9 billion, or approximately 18% of Strategy's market capitalization, is tied to passive investment instruments tracking indices such as the Nasdaq 100, MSCI USA, and MSCI World.
This news has added pressure on Strategy's shares, which have already fallen 38% since the beginning of the year, closing at $186.50 on November 19. This is more than 60% below their 52-week high of $473.83. Analysts note that the decrease in liquidity and decline in investor interest have caused Strategy's market capitalization to diverge significantly from the value of its Bitcoin reserves.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin itself is also showing weakness: on November 20, it fell to $86,681, losing about 30% from its recent peak above $103,000 earlier this month.
JPMorgan analysts, led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, assert that the current decline in Strategy's shares reflects less the weakness of Bitcoin and more the growing concerns over the potential exclusion from indices. This, they believe, could weaken the company's ability to attract capital, undermine its market reputation, and reduce stock liquidity, making it less appealing to institutional investors.
Conclusions and opportunities for traders
The situation surrounding Strategy presents an interesting example of how regulatory decisions and the structure of a company's assets can impact its market capitalization and attractiveness to investors. Traders should closely monitor developments, as fluctuations in Strategy's shares amid MSCI's decisions and Bitcoin's volatility create potential for profitable trading in both short-term and long-term strategies.
How can traders benefit from the situation? Trading Strategy's shares and cryptocurrencies (including Bitcoin) provide opportunities to profit from both market rises and falls. For example, if one is confident in the continued decline of the share price, short positions could be opened, while market reversals offer opportunities to buy at lower prices. Furthermore, the spreads between the share price and the value of the company's Bitcoin reserves offer arbitrage opportunities for experienced participants.
All the mentioned instruments, including Strategy shares, Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, are available for trading on the InstaForex platform. To capitalize on current market fluctuations and open a position today, traders should register an account with InstaForex. For additional convenience, you can download the company's mobile app and trade anytime, anywhere.
Google launches Gemini 3: tech giant takes the lead in the AI race
On Tuesday, Google unveiled its latest development in artificial intelligence – the Gemini 3 model. According to the company, this is the most advanced AI solution it has created to date. The instant resonance in the industry and overwhelming market reaction followed: Alphabet shares, Google's parent company, surged by 6.9% and for the first time in history surpassed $300 per share. Alphabet's market capitalization approached $3.44 trillion, nearly catching up to the industry leader.
The launch of Gemini 3 dealt a serious blow to competitors OpenAI and Anthropic. Google's new language model dominated key metrics: in the Humanity's Last Exam test, which evaluates academic thinking, Gemini 3 achieved a score of 37.5%, significantly higher than OpenAI's GPT 5.1 (26.5%) and Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.5 (13.7%).
Additionally, the model set a record in the LMArena rankings, scoring an Elo of 1501 — the first system in history to surpass the psychological threshold of 1500.
The Google team integrated Gemini 3 into the search engine on the day of its release — a first for the company. It was also announced that the model would be available through the Gemini app, which has over 650 million active users per month, as well as through developer platforms AI Studio and Vertex AI.
According to Talsi Doshi, head of the Gemini model development team, the next-generation AI has demonstrated astonishing progress in cognitive skills. Gemini 3 achieved 91.9% accuracy in the GPQA Diamond benchmark for PhD-level scientific thinking and 81% in the MMMU-Pro test, which assesses multimodal understanding of information.
Google also announced the launch of a separate platform called Antigravity, designed to create code using AI agents. The new platform can independently write, test, and debug software code, laying the groundwork for more autonomous developments in the future.
Despite the technological breakthrough, the model faces challenges. Testing conducted by Artificial Analysis revealed that Gemini 3 Pro has an "hallucination" rate of 88%—referring to instances when the AI confidently produces false information. Arthur d'Avila Garces, an expert from St George's University of London, warned that "one serious hallucination could undermine trust in the system."
Even Google CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged that it is impossible to rely solely on the accuracy of AI: "Models are prone to errors, and users cannot blindly trust generated content," he stated in an interview with the BBC.
Interest in Alphabet intensified after it was disclosed on November 14 that the investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, led by Warren Buffett, had purchased shares of Alphabet worth $4.3 billion. Such support from one of the world's most esteemed investors added momentum to the stock's rise and bolstered investor confidence in the company's prospects.
What does this mean for traders?
It is evident that the launch of Gemini 3 represents a turning point in artificial intelligence development and positively impacted Alphabet's stock price. A similar situation may repeat in the future, and traders should closely monitor news from the tech world to respond promptly to market fluctuations.
This surge in interest in AI presents both short-term and long-term trading opportunities for shares of tech giants, as well as for investing in sector-specific ETFs and other derivative instruments. The increased volatility of Alphabet stock can be leveraged for speculative trades based on price rises or falls.
All the mentioned instruments, including Alphabet shares (GOOGL), are available for trading on the InstaForex platform. To start profiting from the changes in leading global companies' stock prices and to seize the opportunities presented by technological breakthroughs, traders are encouraged to open a trading account with InstaForex. For added convenience, download the company's mobile app and trade anytime, anywhere.
