Bitcoin has crashed below $76,000, wiping out more than $1 billion in leveraged crypto bets in a single day. The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell sharply on Thursday, 5 November 2026, as a brutal sell-off in artificial intelligence stocks swept through Wall Street and dragged the entire crypto market down with it.
Bitcoin dropped from above $80,800 to under $76,000 in less than a day, erasing all of Wednesday’s post-election gains. At one point it touched $75,463 on the Bitstamp exchange, its lowest level since 16 September. The Bitcoin crash below $76,000 is the sharpest reminder yet that crypto now moves in lockstep with the same technology stocks that drove its rally.
Nasdaq Suffers Its Worst Day Since April 2025
The trigger was Wall Street, not crypto. The Nasdaq sank nearly 6 percent on Thursday, on track for its worst day since President Donald Trump’s tariff rollout in April 2025. The more concentrated Nasdaq 100 fell 6.4 percent, its poorest session since the March 2020 Covid panic, while the S&P 500 dropped 4.3 percent.
The damage was worst in the chip sector. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 12 percent, also its worst day since March 2020, as investors dumped Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm. Disappointing earnings from Qualcomm, whose smartphone chip sales missed estimates, and cautious guidance from Arm gave the bears their opening. As CoinDesk reported, the rout in AI-linked stocks swept through markets and dragged crypto down with it.
Why the US Midterms Sparked the Sell-Off
The sell-off came as investors weighed the fallout from Tuesday’s US midterm elections, which handed Democrats control of both chambers of Congress. The concern is that greater political opposition could slow the construction of the data centres powering the AI boom, a trade that has become increasingly important for bitcoin miners.
FalconX’s Joshua Lim said fresh selling returned as “the implications on slower datacenter build out enter into focus”, while GSR’s Carlos Guzman said the midterms “appear to have triggered this sell-off”, adding to concerns about the returns on AI spending that were already building. Democrats are also working on a new crypto market structure bill that could expand the SEC’s oversight of crypto, and Representative Yassamin Ansari posted on X that the party’s agenda should include pausing advanced AI development and placing a “ban on artificial superintelligence”.
Wednesday’s relief rally had been driven largely by short-covering after the election result, and Thursday’s reversal showed how quickly that optimism faded. “The situation appears to have flipped today with a pullback in risk appetite amplified by leverage,” Guzman said.
Over $1 Billion in Crypto Bets Liquidated
The Bitcoin crash below $76,000 triggered a wave of forced selling in derivatives markets, where traders had piled into leveraged bets on higher prices. More than $1 billion in crypto derivatives positions were liquidated over 24 hours, according to CoinGlass, with nearly $953 million of that coming from long positions betting prices would rise.
It was the largest wipeout since at least 28–29 October, when bitcoin tumbled from nearly $82,000 to $76,000. FXStreet reported that nearly $900 million in futures positions were liquidated in just four hours as the US markets opened. Bitcoin futures open interest fell below $26 billion for the first time since mid-September, a sign that traders were closing positions or being forced out as prices fell.
Ethereum fell more than 7 percent to around $2,250, while XRP and Solana each dropped 6 percent or more. The broader crypto market capitalisation fell 4.5 percent to $2.71 trillion.
Crypto Stocks and Miners Hit Even Harder
Crypto-related stocks were caught in the selling and in many cases fell further than bitcoin itself. Coinbase, the largest US crypto exchange, plunged between 10 and 15 percent, along with stablecoin issuer Circle and custody firm BitGo. Bitcoin treasury company Strategy lost 9.6 percent, and Robinhood fell 10 percent.
Crypto miners were hit hardest of all, tumbling 15 to 20 percent. Many miners have been shifting their businesses towards AI computing, leasing capacity to artificial intelligence companies, and that pivot exposed them to both sides of the sell-off at once. Riot, which has been leasing Texas capacity to Anthropic, was among the names caught in the decline.
For Pakistani crypto watchers, the lesson is the same one global markets learned on Thursday: bitcoin no longer trades on its own story. It rises and falls with the AI trade, the Nasdaq and Washington politics, all at once.
What Happens Next for Bitcoin
Not everyone is reading the sell-off as the start of a longer collapse. Wintermute trader Jasper De Maere cautioned against reading too much into a single day, noting that crypto held up relatively well amid the turmoil in AI stocks while broader adoption continues to strengthen the longer-term outlook. “Let’s see where we land in the short term here, medium term still glass half full,” he said, adding that investors should “keep an eye out for bargains surfacing over time”.
The next major test comes quickly. Friday’s October US jobs report is the next event traders are watching, and a weak number could add to the pressure on risk assets. For now, though, the message from Thursday is clear: the post-election rally is over, more than $1 billion in leveraged bets has been wiped out, and bitcoin’s fate is tied tighter than ever to the future of artificial intelligence.
Related: Bitcoin price guide and Binance hack.
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