Why Did Crypto Crash: SOON, PUMP STRK Plummet

The cryptocurrency market has been in a freefall all November, erasing nearly all of the gains from earlier in the season. As of today, the total market cap has come down from $4Tn in October to around $3.09Tn, a loss of almost $1Tn in just one month. But why did crypto crash? Lets find out.

(Source: CoinMarketCap)

The slide of SOON,

Pump.fun
PUMP15

$0.003090

11.51%

, and

Starknet
STRK

$0.1899

7.41%

is an extension of the broader crypto market crash and its effect on mid-cap altcoins: early hype, followed by profit-taking, token unlocks, and, ultimately, sector fatigue.

SOON crypto, for instance, is currently trading at $1.27, down by 33% on the 24-hour chart and 44% on the weekly chart. On 15 November, SOON surged by 167% in an hour, reaching $5.4 and an FDV of $26.39 Bn, then halved. This volatility led to $5.55 million in short liquidations.

Source: (CoinGecko)

Since then, it has been on a declining spree. Adding to the bearish pressure is its upcoming token unlock. SOON will unlock 15.21M tokens (1.54% of total supply) on November 23, 2025. These tokens worth $28.29M are for NFT airdrops, ecosystem and community incentives, and liquidity.

There’s been some misinformation going around about a “major” $SOON unlock happening in November, that claim isn’t true.

The November unlock is approximately 15.92 million SOON tokens, and it’s part of the same transparent, publicly documented schedule that has existed since… pic.twitter.com/4xR8xEtlrU

— Rahul Kulkarni (🔴, 💊) (@0xrahul) November 17, 2025

PUMP has been on a decline as well. Currently trading at

, it is down by 36% on the weekly charts and 13% on the 24-hour chart.

(Source: CoinGecko)

In the last two weeks, whales have rotated into PUMP, buying tokens to raise its price in anticipation of its 2 billion token unlock. What followed was a massive selloff that even $175 M in buybacks failed to stave off.

On July 28th, PumpFun started doing 100% revenue buybacks.

Price ran 3.2x (220%) at its highest.

$179M in buybacks later, price is almost back to where it started. https://t.co/tolZkmCCeJ pic.twitter.com/pVItpuKI1S

— Adam (@Adam_Tehc) November 17, 2025

EXPLORE: Top 20 Crypto to Buy in 2025

Why Did STRK Crypto Crash 12%?

With the broader crypto market crashing, altcoins like STRK face added bearish pressure due to token unlocks. On 15 November, STRK unlocked 5% of its total circulating supply as part of its monthly cliff unlock schedule, ongoing for over a year.

So much FUD about @Starknet token unlocks and dumping after…

Meanwhile staking just increased by +30M $STRK right after unlock. They’re not selling, they’re locking.

This is insanely bullish! pic.twitter.com/DnS59lliJG

— manuel jhair (@jhair052) November 17, 2025

At the same time, early investors and contributors, locked since the 2024 airdrop, have been offloading to realize gains, causing its price action to plummet.

As of right now, STRK is trading at

, down by 10% in the last 24 hours, but still up by 4% on the weekly chart.

On the whole, however, November has been a good month for STRK. Several narratives contributed to its price action surging from the lows of $0.1 to breaching $0.225 on 16 November. It upgraded its mainnet earlier this month, along with growing interest in BTCFi and new incentives that pushed the token toward key resistance areas.

(Source: CoinGecko)

Further to this, BTC inflows to the tune of $276 M expanded STRK’s liquidity. At the same time, notable updates within the ecosystem, such as the launch of a $16.5 million incentive program and the deployment of the new high-speed S-two prover, boosted confidence.

.@Starknet is leading in net flows over the past 24 hours.

But they’ve been outperforming all year long.

– TVL continues to rise back over $270m
– BTCFi is growing there with $100M $BTC staked
– 100K DAUs now
– Stablecoin supply hit another ATH of $150m
– $1B in TVS (5th… pic.twitter.com/TdCOF1aRb9

— Emperor Osmo 🐂 🎯 (@Flowslikeosmo) November 17, 2025

Additionally, new features like BTC staking and Solana bridging made STRK look more promising.

EXPLORE: Next 1000X Crypto – Here’s 10+ Crypto Tokens That Can Hit 1000x This Year

Macro Reasons As To Why Crypto Is Crashing

Since October, the crypto landscape has been under mounting selling pressure because of a mix of macroeconomic factors extending to investor behaviour and sector-specific issues. Inflation in the US, for instance, came in hotter than expected, therefore making it unlikely that the FED will cut interest rates soon, spooking investors into pulling out their funds.

Market-implied odds of a December rate cut are below 50% as it appears most Fed officials favor a more cautious approach.

Big data this week (and in early December) could still tip the scales in either direction https://t.co/wYRaLmvqYW pic.twitter.com/ErbnCwIwzq

— Matt Weller CFA, CMT (@MWellerFX) November 17, 2025

At the same time, BTC and ETH ETFs saw massive outflows as long-term holders started rotating into other assets.

⚠️ First it was BlackRock and the $BTC ETFs. Now ?

Institutional & Dormant Whales are on the move. 👀

Mt. Gox (dormant 8 month): 10,423 BTC ($936M)

Galaxy Digital (active): 1,474 BTC ($133M)

Two massive, high-concern flows hitting the chain. Watch the market.

#Bitcoin… pic.twitter.com/hTaSOutYw0

— BITCOIN EXPERT INDIA (@Btcexpertindia) November 18, 2025

Meanwhile, global tensions have kept crypto on shaky ground. Trade threats between the U.S. and China sparked panic selling and damaged trust.

The downturn of major cryptocurrencies such as BTC and ETH has negatively affected the market, with only some coins gaining as investors parked their funds for short-term gains or for safekeeping.

EXPLORE: 9+ Best High-Risk, High-Reward Crypto to Buy in 2025