On the BTC/USDT pair, the price moved back above 76,000 USDT this morning, down 5.43% over 24 hours, after hitting a low of around $75,200 to $75,500 on Thursday evening.
In concrete terms, here’s what the chart shows:
• The peak before the drop: around $80,700 on Wednesday, just after the post-U.S. election rebound
• The breakdown: on Thursday at the opening of Wall Street, it fell from over $79,000 to below $76,000, then traded in a range between $75,300 and $76,500 with no real rebound
• The warning sign before the drop: during Wednesday’s rebound, futures open interest remained flat, and Bitcoin was already trading at a discount on Coinbase compared with Binance, a sign of soft U.S. demand
Across social media, today's screenshots show the same thing: an all-red heatmap and Bitcoin at $75,825 on a widely shared carousel, and another post summing up BTC at $75,548, down 6.07% on the day.
Why it's falling: it's not a crypto problem
1. The contagion is coming from Wall Street, especially the AI trade
On Thursday, the Nasdaq closed down 5.52%, its worst day since April 2025; the S&P 500 fell 4.3%, and the Dow Jones dropped 3.44%. Around $2.5 trillion in market value was wiped out in a single session.
AI and semiconductor stocks led the decline: Nvidia and Qualcomm fell more than 9%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 12.3%. When this sector cracks, Bitcoin, treated as a risk asset, almost mirrors its moves. Ethereum also lost 7.3% over the same period, more than BTC.
2. The political trigger: the US midterm elections
After Democrats won both chambers, the market initially welcomed the prospect of geopolitical easing, then reversed course. Analysts from FalconX and GSR cited by CoinDesk link the sell-off to fears that Democratic control of Congress could slow the construction of AI data centers, fueling doubts about the return on massive AI investments.
The same narrative is circulating on Instagram: a recap from the NYSE describes a reversal of the rally following the Democratic victory and concerns about a slowdown in AI buildout.
3. US spot ETFs see massive outflows again
On Thursday, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $430.2 million in net outflows, led by Fidelity with $199.9 million and BlackRock with $105 million. That wiped out Wednesday's $74.6 million inflow and brought the week's net outflows to $869.8 million. Ethereum ETFs lost around another $100 million, bringing the total to about $530 million for BTC + ETH.
The snowball effect: liquidations
The decline triggered forced selling. In 24 hours, $1.26 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated, including $1.12 billion in long positions—that is, bets on prices rising.
CoinGlass breakdown: 239,119 traders liquidated, 88.6% of them holding long positions. Bitcoin alone accounted for $329.57 million in liquidations, 90.4% of them longs. Binance accounted for 45.2% of liquidations, with the largest single liquidation at $10.94 million on ETH/USDT.
Fund managers cited in the press also explain that some funds are selling alternative assets, including crypto, to meet margin calls on stocks and reduce their leverage.
The backdrop was already fragile after the $6.3 billion hack at Binance in late October, with withdrawals only beginning to reopen on November 1.
Levels to watch on the chart
• Nearby support: the 24-hour low zone, between $75,200 and $75,300, with the 50-week moving average around $75,552, as cited this morning
• Nearby resistance: $76,500, then especially the level lost on Thursday, $80,000 to $80,800
• What could tip the scales: the US October jobs report, released today—the last employment data before the Fed's December 9 decision. Traders are also watching whether perpetual futures open interest, around $67.40 billion, continues to fall, a sign that leverage is still being flushed out
In short, the move is driven by fears of a slowdown in the US AI boom after the midterms, amplified by ETF outflows and more than $1 billion in long liquidations.