Bitcoin Ended November Down 18.2% in Its Worst Month of 2019

Bitcoin completed November 2019 with its largest monthly loss of the year. Kraken Intelligence’s subsequent monthly compilation placed bitcoin at $7,559 on November 30, down 18.2% month over month and marking its weakest monthly performance of 2019.

CoinMarketCap’s date-stamped November 30 snapshot independently recorded bitcoin at $7,569.63, with a circulating market capitalization of $136.83 billion. The $10.63 difference between the two observations was approximately 0.14% of Kraken’s figure, illustrating both broad agreement about the market level and the absence of one universal bitcoin closing price.

A decline the late rebound could not erase

The November loss developed unevenly. Kraken recorded an intraday six-month low of $6,525 on November 25. Its monthly report said bitcoin subsequently recovered to $7,559 by November 30, but the rebound remained insufficient to reverse the month’s decline.

CoinDesk’s contemporaneous November 29 report captured the situation before the final UTC session ended. It measured bitcoin at $7,530 on Bitstamp, 17.6% below that venue’s November 1 opening price of $9,586, and described the cryptocurrency as poised for its largest monthly loss of 2019. The completed Kraken measurement confirmed that conclusion after November 30 ended.

These figures use different methods. CoinDesk compared a Bitstamp opening trade with a November 29 press-time price. Kraken reported a month-over-month result derived from selected public market data. Neither should be treated as a consolidated closing auction comparable to one on a national securities exchange.

November 30 also showed broad market weakness

CoinMarketCap’s November 30 snapshot placed bitcoin’s displayed 24-hour change at negative 2.48% and its seven-day change at positive 3.03%. Those rolling windows show that a late-week recovery coexisted with renewed selling during the final daily measurement.

The same snapshot recorded ether at $152.54, down 1.59% over its displayed 24-hour window; XRP at $0.2265, down 1.69%; and bitcoin cash at $218.91, down 2.58%. That cross-asset weakness supports describing November 30 as a broadly negative session, although the snapshot does not establish identical cutoff times or liquidity conditions for every asset.

Kraken’s later report found that bitcoin’s one-month correlations with the five largest alternative cryptocurrencies had become nearly perfectly positive during November. Correlation does not identify causation, but it indicates that the decline was not confined to an isolated bitcoin order book.

Liquidity complicated the market signal

Kraken estimated that monthly trading volume across 11 named exchanges fell 13.1% from October. The report combined activity from Kraken, Bittrex, Binance, Binance Jersey, Binance US, Bitfinex, Bitstamp, Coinbase, EOSfinex, Gemini and Poloniex. It also cited wider bid-ask spreads and weaker sentiment as evidence that limited liquidity influenced November trading.

That interpretation is attributable to Kraken’s research desk rather than a proven explanation for the price decline. Lower reported volume can amplify market movements, but it does not demonstrate why individual holders bought or sold. Exchange coverage, wash-trading controls and the treatment of dollar and stablecoin markets could also change an aggregate volume estimate.

The defensible November 30 conclusion is narrower: bitcoin completed its worst month of 2019 near $7,560 after trading as low as $6,525 during November. The completed decline established a significant market reversal from earlier 2019 strength, but it did not establish a durable bottom or predict December’s direction.

Later-compiled confirmation

Kraken published its November review on December 9, 2019. That later compilation confirms the completed monthly result and supplies liquidity and volatility measurements, but those interpretations were not available before November 30 ended and are not presented as contemporaneous event-day commentary.