Bitcoin Falls Below $70K: $1.47B Liquidated as ETFs Bleed in 2026

Bitcoin broke below $70,000 early Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, and kept falling. The Block put the price at $68,408 as of 12:10 a.m. ET, down 7% in 24 hours and the lowest level since Aug. 20, while more than $1.4 billion in leveraged crypto bets were forcibly closed. The drop stacks three pressures on top of each other: a strong dollar priced for another Fed hike, a shock leadership change at Nvidia that hit AI and tech stocks, and a week of steady redemptions from U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs.

None of those forces is new on its own. What changed this week is that they arrived together, at a moment when the market was crowded with long positions and short of fresh buyers. This article walks through what happened, why $70,000 mattered, what the ETF and stablecoin data say about demand, and how long-term holders can read the move.

What happened overnight

The selloff gathered pace during Asian trading hours. According to CoinDesk, bitcoin fell to $69,000, its lowest since Aug. 19 on CoinDesk's data, and is now down 17% this quarter, reversing much of the rally from the prior three months. The Block's price page showed a deeper print a short time later.

The rest of the market followed:

• Ether: dropped below $2,000 for the first time since August, per CoinDesk, and traded at $1,921 (down 6%) on The Block's data.
• BNB: down 6.3% over 24 hours, per The Block.
• XRP: down 3.5% and trading close to $1, per The Block and CoinDesk.
• Solana: SOL slipped below $80, per CoinDesk.
• Smaller tokens: GT, Stacks and XMR each fell 7% or more, CoinDesk reported.

The move did not come out of nowhere. On Thursday, bitcoin had already slipped from roughly $73,400 as tech stocks sold off, and CoinDesk's Thursday market wrap noted that the fear and greed index sat at 26, firmly in fear territory, before the latest leg lower even started.

A leverage flush at $70,000

The speed of the fall says more about positioning than about news. Data source CoinGlass, cited by The Block, counted $1.47 billion in crypto liquidations over 24 hours, of which $1.31 billion were long positions, with 175,299 traders liquidated. In just four hours, $798 million was wiped out, including $718.5 million in longs.

CoinDesk, using the same data source at a slightly earlier cut, reported more than $1.3 billion in liquidations over 24 hours, with bitcoin alone accounting for $677 million. Nearly $500 million of that happened right as BTC fell through $70,000. The single largest liquidated position was a long bitcoin bet worth more than $31 million on the decentralized derivatives platform Hyperliquid.

A liquidation happens when an exchange forcibly closes a leveraged position because the trader's losses have eaten through their margin. When many traders place stops and liquidation levels just below an obvious round number, a break of that number turns into a cascade: forced selling pushes the price lower, which triggers the next batch of forced selling.

That is how Rick Maeda, head of markets at Laevitas, described it to The Block: "The sharp leg lower in crypto looks like a leverage event as BTC broke key levels. BTC had already lost $72,000 in the U.S. session, and once it broke $70,000 late morning in Asia, the long positions clustered below that level were forced out quickly, with more than $600 million in four hours and over $1.3 billion in the past day."

Why the chart watchers care

Bitcoin had already lost an important technical level before Friday. CoinDesk's Crypto Daily for Nov. 12 noted that BTC had dropped below its 50-week simple moving average, then at $75,153. In September, the price had convincingly closed above that average, and Galaxy Digital's research head Alex Thorn pointed out that in four of the five previously completed bear markets, the first weekly close above the 50-week SMA led to a bull run. The lone exception was the 2021–22 cycle.

Losing that level again turns September's signal into what technical analysts call a failed breakout. Market maker Wintermute put a number on its caution: "We stay cautious while BTC sits under its 50-week average, with $68k the next level down and reclaiming $80k changing that view." The Block's $68,408 print put bitcoin right on top of that $68,000 line.

Options traders were already leaning defensive. CoinDesk reported that one-week bitcoin options skew, the premium of puts over calls, had edged up to about 11% on Thursday, meaning traders were paying more for downside protection than for upside bets.

The macro squeeze: a strong dollar and a hawkish Fed

The deepest driver is the cost of money. CoinDesk reported that the Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the dollar against major currencies, traded above 103 on Friday, which it described as the highest since April 2025. The index has climbed nearly 2% since early October on rising odds of Federal Reserve rate hikes. A stronger dollar usually drains liquidity from risk assets, and bitcoin has traded as a liquidity-sensitive risk asset for most of this cycle.

Rate expectations moved after a hotter-than-expected U.S. consumer price index reading for October earlier this week. The Fed meets Dec. 8–9, and CoinDesk reported that CME FedWatch was pricing around a 90% chance of a hike at that meeting. The debate now is about size. BTSE COO Jeff Mei told The Block that traders are watching for signals of a 50-basis-point hike, and added: "If the Fed hikes rates by 50 basis points rather than the expected 25 basis points, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could have more room to fall."

Geopolitics added fuel. CoinDesk cited reports that Iran's IRGC said it destroyed a U.S. early-warning radar in Bahrain in response to an air attack on a telecoms tower in Sirik. Oil did not spike on the headline: WTI traded around $88, slightly below Thursday's high of $89.15. But the Iran conflict remains a swing factor for inflation through energy prices, which feeds straight back into the Fed outlook.

The next data points are close. Coindaro flagged that the U.S. producer price index lands Friday at 13:30 UTC. Jeff Ko, chief analyst at ViaBTC, told The Block that markets will be watching the PCE inflation report in late November "and more importantly, the Dec. 9 FOMC dot plot."

Not everyone reads the dollar the same way. LMAX Group strategist Joel Kruger argued in CoinDesk's Nov. 12 daybook that "much of that hawkishness is already reflected in prices," and that "a narrowing of US yield differentials would take pressure off crypto and could help bring buyers back." His view depends on the PPI report and Fed commentary giving the dollar no new reason to rally.

The Nvidia shock and the AI trade

The other half of this week's risk-off move came from the stock market's most important AI company. On Nov. 12, Nvidia's board announced that Jensen Huang had resigned as president, CEO and board member, effective immediately. CFO Colette Kress was named interim CEO while keeping her finance role, and former Synopsys CEO Harvey C. Jones became the board's first-ever chair. The board said it will consider internal and external candidates for a permanent CEO.

Reuters reported that Huang stepped down after revelations of extramarital affairs, including one involving a suspected Chinese spy. Nvidia shares slumped 14% to their lowest in nearly 16 months on Thursday before paring losses to close down 4.3%, according to Reuters.

Why does a chipmaker's CEO change move bitcoin? Because crypto has been trading alongside high-growth tech and AI names. When investors cut exposure to the AI trade, they tend to cut exposure to other high-beta assets at the same time. Maeda told The Block that "traders trying to catch a reversal from the Nvidia-driven risk-off, combined with thin bids after this week's CPI, have both played a role in the liquidations."

The AI link also shows up inside crypto itself. CoinDesk noted on Thursday that Render (RENDER), the decentralized GPU network token, fell 3.1% as Nvidia slid. Decrypt pointed out that ETF outflows have lined up with the tech selloff: on Nov. 5, when the Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5% in a single day, spot bitcoin ETFs saw net outflows of about $430 million.

ETF outflows and a shortage of buyers

The steadiest buyer of the past two years has stepped back. According to Decrypt, citing SoSoValue, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lost about $1.44 billion over five straight trading days from Nov. 5 to Nov. 11. That brings November net outflows to $1.88 billion so far, after $520 million left in October. Total net assets in the funds have fallen to $93.7 billion, about 45% below the October 2025 peak of $169.5 billion, as both outflows and lower prices take their toll.

Most of that money left one fund. Daily figures from Farside Investors, compiled by BeInCrypto, show how lopsided the week was:

• Nov. 5: total net outflow of $430.2 million, with Fidelity's FBTC (−$199.9 million) the largest.
• Nov. 6: −$411.9 million, led by BlackRock's IBIT at −$403.0 million.
• Nov. 9: −$201.0 million, with IBIT at −$213.2 million.
• Nov. 10: −$95.0 million.
• Nov. 11: −$299.8 million, with IBIT at −$269.7 million and Grayscale's GBTC at −$39.1 million.

CoinDesk noted that the Nov. 11 redemption was IBIT's ninth straight session of outflows. These are client redemptions, not BlackRock selling its own bitcoin, but they remove a large, consistent source of spot demand. One small exception stands out in the Farside data: Morgan Stanley's Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) took in money on Nov. 9, 10 and 11, about $51 million in total according to BeInCrypto. That is tiny next to IBIT's losses, but it suggests some institutional demand is shifting rather than disappearing.

Analysts quoted by Decrypt put the outflows in proportion. Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey, said the five-day outflows equal about 2.6% of the funds' $55.1 billion in cumulative net inflows, "far from a full-scale retreat." He also estimated the average holding cost for spot bitcoin ETF investors at around $81,000. If that estimate is right, the typical ETF holder is now sitting on an unrealized loss, which can push some to cut exposure further during year-end portfolio reviews.

Stablecoin supply is shrinking too

The more worrying signal may be the lack of new money waiting to come in. In a note shared with Decrypt, BitGo head of research Greg Cipolaro said the post-election bounce brought only $75 million into spot bitcoin ETFs, while dollar-pegged stablecoin supply contracted 1.9% to $286.3 billion, "suggesting little fresh capital is waiting on the sidelines." Decrypt also cited Glassnode data showing total stablecoin supply fell by $14.2 billion in the 30 days through Nov. 9, the fastest contraction since June 2022.

Stablecoins are the cash balance of the crypto market. When their supply grows, it usually means new dollars are entering and can be deployed into BTC, ETH and DeFi. When supply shrinks, the market has less dry powder to absorb forced selling like Friday's.

Cipolaro also flagged the basis trade. Hedge funds that bought spot ETF shares while shorting futures to capture the price gap have been exiting because the basis has fallen below borrowing costs. That means ETF flows now reflect directional demand for bitcoin more directly than before, Sun told Decrypt. In plain terms, outflows today are more likely to be real sellers rather than arbitrage desks closing a spread.

Corporate treasury demand is also softer. Decrypt reported that the premium of Strategy's stock over the value of its bitcoin has narrowed, and MSCI's decision to exclude Strategy from its indexes could cut off some passive investment. Analysts at Marex, quoted in CoinDesk's daybook, said the company still holds 850,364 BTC and reported no bitcoin sales, and warned that "extrapolating index outflows directly into spot Bitcoin supply would be the wrong hedge."

What this means for investors

Friday's drop looks like a leverage flush layered on a weak demand backdrop. The flush part tends to burn out quickly once over-extended longs are cleared, and that can leave the market less fragile in the short term. The demand part is slower to fix. Bitcoin needs either a softer dollar, a less hawkish Fed path, a calmer AI trade, or a return of ETF and stablecoin inflows before buyers have a reason to step in with size. BitGo's Cipolaro put it bluntly: unless bitcoin "begins to participate in rallies and ETF demand strengthens, digital assets could remain exposed to further downside."

The near-term map is fairly clear from the sources above:

• Levels: Wintermute flagged $68,000 as the next level down and said reclaiming $80,000 would change its cautious view. The 50-week average near $75,153 is the first big hurdle on the way up.
• Macro dates: Friday's PPI report, PCE inflation in late November, and the Dec. 8–9 FOMC meeting with its Dec. 9 dot plot.
• Flows: whether IBIT's redemption streak ends and whether stablecoin supply stops shrinking.
• AI stocks: how markets settle on Nvidia's leadership change under interim CEO Colette Kress.

For longer-term holders, perspective helps. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, cited by Decrypt, compared today's outflows with gold ETF GLD, which saw around 40% of its investors leave after its 2011 peak and took nearly a decade to recover its assets, but now holds nearly three times that early high. "Assets without cash flows run purely on sentiment and it changes," he wrote. That is not a forecast for bitcoin, but it is a reminder that ETF holder bases can churn hard without ending an asset's story.

Practically, this is a week when leverage hurt the most. Traders who were liquidated were mostly long, levered and positioned just below a round number. Spot holders who own their coins outright had a painful paper loss but no forced exit. If you hold BTC on an exchange, it is a good moment to review where your coins sit and whether a hardware or self-custody setup fits you; our guide to the best Bitcoin wallets compares the main options. You can also track the asset on our Bitcoin coin page, and for context on how this outflow streak began, see our earlier analysis of the $643 million ETF outflow after the Binance hack.

Bitcoin has broken big round numbers before and recovered, and it has also broken them and kept going. The next few weeks of inflation data and Fed signals will likely decide which of those this turns out to be.