Bitcoin Falls to About $76,000 as $1.26 Billion in Bets Get Wiped Out and Crypto ETFs Lose $535 Million

Thursday's AI stock rout didn't stop at Wall Street. Here's how it reached crypto, and why borrowed money made the drop sharper.

Why did Bitcoin fall on Nov. 5?

Bitcoin fell below $76,000 during Thursday's U.S. trading session because the AI stock selloff spilled into crypto. Forced selling from leveraged traders then deepened the drop. It was back around $76,056 early Friday, still down more than 5.3% over 24 hours, CoinDesk reported.

Bitcoin had traded above $80,000 after Wednesday's rally, so that gain disappeared in about a day. Ether fell harder, losing about 7.5% to around $2,235, CoinDesk reported. The total value of all crypto dropped 4.6% to about $2.66 trillion, according to CoinGecko data cited by crypto.news.

The trigger was the same one that hit stocks. The Nasdaq fell 5.5%, and investors worried that Democrats' midterm wins could slow AI data center construction. That worry reaches crypto directly, since Bitcoin miners have become part of the data center trade. CoinDesk said miners fell 15% to 20% on Thursday.

"The midterms appear to have triggered this sell-off, with investors worried that greater opposition to data-center expansion could slow the AI buildout," Carlos Guzman, vice president of research at trading firm GSR, said in CoinDesk's report. Guzman added that this came on top of existing concerns about returns on AI spending.

What does a $1.26 billion liquidation mean?

A liquidation happens when an exchange automatically closes a trader's borrowed position because their losses have used up the money backing it. That forced selling can push prices lower, which can trigger the next round.

CoinGlass data showed $1.26 billion in liquidations over 24 hours, and $1.12 billion of that came from long positions, or bets on rising prices, CoinDesk reported Friday. That's about 89% of the total. In other words, traders who had piled in on the way up took nearly all of the damage.

Here's a simple example with no fees. Say a trader puts up $1,000 and borrows enough to hold $20,000 of Bitcoin, which is 20-times leverage. A 5% drop means a $1,000 loss, which wipes out their whole stake. Someone who simply bought $1,000 of Bitcoin with no borrowing and saw a 5.5% drop would still hold about $945. That's the real difference between a bad day and a closed position.

Joshua Lim of crypto broker FalconX said Wednesday's rally "was driven by a lot of short-covering into a well-telegraphed result." Short-covering means traders who had bet on a fall bought back to close those bets. If that was much of Wednesday's buying, it may help explain why the gain vanished so quickly.

How much money left Bitcoin and Ether ETFs?

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs lost a net $430.2 million on Thursday, reversing Wednesday's $74.6 million inflow. Fidelity's FBTC lost the most at $199.9 million, followed by BlackRock's IBIT at $105 million, Gate News reported, and no Bitcoin fund took in new money that day. Ether funds lost $99.9 million.

Counting smaller products, crypto ETFs lost about $535 million, though FinanceFeeds called that total provisional because some small funds hadn't reported.

The bigger picture is a rough stretch for these funds. Bitcoin ETFs have now lost $869.8 million in the first four trading days of November, after a $643.3 million outflow on Oct. 30. CoinDesk said that Oct. 30 outflow erased 63.6% of what the funds had taken in this year. By our arithmetic from those figures, net flows for 2026 are now roughly $500 million in the red.

One caution: ETF outflows don't always mean coins were sold on the open market that day, FinanceFeeds noted.

What this means for your wallet

Plenty of investors have crypto exposure without owning a single coin. CoinDesk said crypto-related stocks sank more than 10% on Thursday. By mid-afternoon, Coinbase was down about 10.6% and Robinhood about 11.8%, crypto.news reported. A broad fund may own some of those names, while a Bitcoin ETF moves with Bitcoin itself.

Bitcoin didn't act as a safe place on Thursday. It fell with tech stocks while gold rose slightly to about $4,094 an ounce, CoinDesk said. That matters if you've thought of crypto as protection for a stock portfolio. Over this stretch it traded more like another risky asset, and correlations like that can tighten in a selloff.

Jasper De Maere of market maker Wintermute took a calmer view in CoinDesk's report: "Let's see where we land in the short term here; medium term still glass half full." That's one trader's opinion, not a forecast.

What should investors watch next?

Investors may watch three things. First, whether Bitcoin holds near $76,000, a level crypto.news flagged as close to the week's low. Second, ETF flows, which show whether big buyers come back. Third, AI stocks, since crypto has been moving with them this week.

Liquidity also matters. Simon-Peter Massabni of broker XS.com, in comments cited by CoinDesk, pointed to pressure to "liquidate alternative holdings to meet margin calls and deleverage portfolios." If stocks keep sliding, that kind of selling could continue. If they steady, the pressure could ease, though no one can say which comes first.