Pomegra
Bitcoin dropped below $76,000 from above $80,000 as a tech rout hit risk assets, with about $1.1 billion of leveraged crypto positions liquidated in 24 hours.
- Bitcoin hit an intraday low near $75,568 on Nov. 5, erasing the post-midterm rally that took it above $80,000.
- About $1.09 billion of leveraged positions were liquidated in 24 hours, with nearly nine in ten betting on higher prices.
- The S&P 500 fell 4.4% and the Nasdaq Composite 5.5%, the worst session for U.S. stocks since April 2025.
Lead
Bitcoin fell below $76,000 on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, after trading above $80,000 a day earlier, as a collapse in AI and semiconductor shares spread into digital assets. About $1.1 billion of leveraged crypto positions were wiped out over 24 hours, affecting roughly 211,000 traders. Bitcoin dropped about 5% to 6% on the day, touching its lowest level in seven weeks and giving back the gains that followed the Nov. 3 U.S. midterm elections.What Happened to Bitcoin on Thursday?
Bitcoin fell from above $80,800 to an intraday low of about $75,568, trading near $75,700 in the afternoon in New York. The token had climbed past $80,000 on Wednesday but remained below its late-October high near $82,000.
Ether fell more than 7% to about $2,247, while XRP and Solana each lost roughly 5.5%. The official Trump memecoin hit a record low after falling more than 20% over two days.Selling accelerated through the session. About $880 million of positions were liquidated in a four-hour window, of which $819 million were long bets and $61 million were shorts. The 24-hour total was the largest since Oct. 28-29. Roughly $370 million was liquidated in about an hour as bitcoin broke through $77,000.
Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds also recorded outflows of about $1 billion, including roughly $900 million from the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
Why Did a Tech Rout Hit Crypto?
Crypto fell because the selloff in AI and chip stocks drained speculative demand across all risk assets, and highly leveraged crypto positions amplified the move. Bitcoin has traded as a high-beta technology asset during recent drawdowns, rising and falling with the Nasdaq.
The equity trigger was a combination of weak chipmaker earnings guidance and concern that post-midterm politics could bring tighter scrutiny of AI and a slower data center buildout. The Nasdaq 100, the index tracked by the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) and watched closely by investors in the Nasdaq QQQ fund, fell more than 6%, its weakest session since the March 2020 pandemic panic. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped about 12%.
How Bad Was the Stock Market Selloff?
The S&P 500 closed down 4.36% at 7,353.73, its worst day since the April 2025 tariff shock, and all 11 sectors finished lower. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5% and entered correction territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1,833 points, or 3.44%, to 51,523.06. The VIX volatility gauge jumped about 60%.
Chip and AI-infrastructure names led the decline:
- Nvidia (NVDA) fell 9.3%
- Broadcom (AVGO) fell 10.4%
- Qualcomm (QCOM) fell 9.5%
- Micron (MU) fell 17.5%
- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) fell 17.3%
Crypto-linked equities fell in step with the token. Strategy (MSTR) and Coinbase (COIN) each lost about 10%, and several bitcoin miners dropped 15% to 20%.
Why Were Leveraged Longs Hit So Hard?
Leveraged longs were hit hard because positioning had turned bullish after the election rally, leaving little cushion when prices reversed. Nearly 90% of liquidated contracts were bets on rising prices. Exchanges force-close such positions when margin runs out, and the resulting sales push prices lower and trigger further liquidations.
The pattern echoes the Oct. 28-29 shakeout, when a similar wave of long liquidations followed bitcoin's retreat from its late-October peak. Two forced-selling episodes in under a fortnight point to elevated leverage in perpetual futures markets.
What Comes Next for Bitcoin?
The next test for bitcoin is the $73,000 level, followed by $68,000, which traders watch as the next support zones. A move back above $80,000 would be needed to restore the post-election trend.
Direction will depend largely on equities. If the Nasdaq stabilizes after entering correction territory, forced selling in crypto should ease. A further slide in semiconductor shares would likely keep pressure on bitcoin and on equities tied to it. Financial markets today are also sensitive to upcoming chipmaker results and any signal from Washington on AI policy, both of which bear on the data center spending that has supported the sector.
Continued ETF outflows are a second variable. Spot funds have been a main source of marginal demand for bitcoin, and sustained redemptions would remove that support.
Outlook
Bitcoin's fall below $76,000 and the $1.1 billion liquidation wave show how closely crypto now tracks the technology sector. With the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting their sharpest one-day losses in more than a year, the near-term path depends on whether chip stocks find a floor and whether ETF outflows slow.
Mentioned tickers: QQQ, NVDA, AVGO, QCOM, MU, AMD, MSTR, COIN, IBIT
