Bitcoin fell below $70,000 late Thursday in the U.S., touching a low of $67,555 on Coinbase as forced selling swept through leveraged positions. The first trade under that level occurred after 9 p.m. ET, and the price kept sliding past midnight. By 3:18 a.m. ET, the asset traded at $68,624, down 6.7% over 24 hours and 9.4% over seven days per CoinGecko data. This represents a drop of about 15% from the roughly $80,760 it traded at on Oct. 29. Other major tokens also fell sharply during this window. Ether dropped 5.7% to $1,931, Solana lost 3.7% to $79.76, and XRP declined 1.5%.
Forced Selling and Market Pressure
About $1.65 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated in the 24 hours to roughly 3:10 a.m. ET, with 88.9% coming from traders betting on higher prices. $1.07 billion of that total hit in the last 12 hours, covering the U.S. evening and the break below $70,000. Bitcoin positions made up $918.66 million of the 24-hour total, while ether accounted for $287.68 million. One bitcoin long on Hyperliquid alone represented $31.09 million in losses. Tim Sun, senior analyst at Hashkey, stated that the drop was directly triggered by a "concentrated liquidation" of these positions. He noted that the deeper issue lies in steadily weakening market demand across ETFs, stablecoins, and treasury firms. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw net outflows of $299.9 million on Nov. 11 and $1.88 billion in November through that day.
James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, told Unchained that bitcoin is being hit as investors rethink their AI and tech bets. He observed that fund withdrawals and leverage were amplifying the pressure. "Bitcoin does not need a direct economic connection to AI to suffer when investors reduce risk across their portfolios," he said. The rate backdrop has tightened significantly. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in October, and core CPI increased 0.3%, data that knocked bitcoin back below $74,000 on Tuesday. The Fed held its target range at 3.75% to 4% on Oct. 28, with two officials dissenting in favor of a hike. The 10-year Treasury yield reached 5.10% on Thursday, up from 4.88% on Monday. Polymarket predictors put a 97% chance on the Fed raising interest rates this year, up from 75% at the start of the week.
Inflation Data and Future Outlook
The inflation problem is no longer easily dismissed as an oil story, according to Butterfill. Food rose 0.5%, services remained firm, and services excluding rent, a gauge of domestic price pressure the Fed watches closely, rose 0.5%. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned effective immediately on Thursday, sparking severe volatility across tech stocks. This prompted broader portfolio de-risking, which amplified the downward pressure on Bitcoin. West Texas Intermediate crude has fallen from $107.56 a barrel on Oct. 30 to $89.62 on Nov. 10.
CoinShares’ base case has been a $70,000-to-$90,000 band for bitcoin into 2027. Butterfill warned that the move below $70,000 puts the lower end of that view under pressure and should not be assumed to represent a hard floor. A lasting move above $90,000 would likely need expectations of easier monetary policy or renewed buying by large holders. He is watching inflation, the Fed’s expected path, and flows into exchange-traded products. "A short squeeze can lift prices quickly, but a durable recovery needs buyers willing to commit fresh capital," he said. October producer price data is due at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday. Nvidia reports quarterly results on Nov. 17, and the Fed’s next rate decision is scheduled for Dec. 9.
