Bitcoin gives back its post-election gain as the AI selloff reaches crypto

Bitcoin (BTC) fell 6% to $75,700 on Thursday, giving back the rally that followed the US midterm elections, as a selloff in US technology stocks reached crypto, according to The Block and CoinDesk. More than $1 billion of leveraged crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours.

One day after the recovery, the level was back

Bitcoin had climbed back above $80,000 on Wednesday, as FinanceInTime reported. The Block said Thursday's decline reversed that rally, with an intraday low of $75,568. CoinDesk described bitcoin as down 5.5% over 24 hours and back near the levels seen before Wednesday's rally.

Ether (ETH) dropped more than 7% to $2,247, The Block reported. CoinDesk said XRP and Solana were each lower by 5.5%. The Block added that the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin hit an all-time low after falling more than 20% over two days.

The stock market drove the move

The crypto decline followed the worst day for US stocks in more than a year. CoinDesk reported that the Nasdaq shed 5.5%, the S&P 500 4.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 3.4%, and that the US stock market had its worst session since the April 2025 tariff announcements. The Block's figures, as of 2 p.m. ET, were smaller because the session was still open.

Companies tied to crypto fell with it. The Block said Strategy and Coinbase were each down about 10%, and CoinDesk said digital-asset-related stocks sank more than 10% and crypto miners 15%-20%.

CoinDesk quoted Carlos Guzman of GSR, who said the sell-off was tied to "the implications of slower data center buildout" coming into focus.

Leveraged longs took the loss

According to CoinGlass data cited by The Block, about $879.92 million in positions were liquidated over four hours, including $818.90 million in longs and $61.02 million in shorts. Total liquidations over 24 hours reached nearly $1.1 billion and affected nearly 211,000 traders. CoinDesk, also citing CoinGlass, put the 24-hour figure at more than $1 billion.

Liquidations are positions closed automatically when a trader's collateral no longer covers losses. The Block noted that such figures rest on public data and may understate the true total.

Traders also questioned Wednesday's rally. Joshua Lim of FalconX told CoinDesk that it "was driven by a lot of short-covering into a well-telegraphed result". Jasper De Maere, an over-the-counter trader at Wintermute, told The Block that the factors behind it "seemed to be so short-lived that it actually didn't really matter". He added that "Trump is still the president for two years, the Middle East is still escalating".

A relief rally that traders already doubted

We think Thursday shows how little of crypto's week was about crypto. A rally built on short-covering and relief over an election result lasted one day, and the same price came back when the stock market sold off. The threat is leverage: with more than $1 billion liquidated in 24 hours, a further fall in technology shares could force more selling. The opportunity, for the businesses that earn from payments, custody and regulated products, is that this selloff did not start in crypto and did not come from a failure inside it.

We do not forecast price levels. We expect crypto to keep following US technology stocks while the AI-spending debate runs, and our view would change if bitcoin held its level on a day when stocks fall again.

The view in this final section is FinanceInTime's editorial opinion, for information only. It is not investment, tax, legal or other advice, and it does not take your circumstances into account. Forecasts are uncertain and past results do not guarantee future ones.