Bitcoin fell more than 6% on Thursday to $75,463, its lowest price since September 16. The drop followed a sharp US stock sell-off that wiped out gains from the midterm elections. Bitcoin tra
Bitcoin fell more than 6% on Thursday to $75,463, its lowest price since September 16. The drop followed a sharp US stock sell-off that wiped out gains from the midterm elections. Bitcoin trades near $76,500 at the time of writing, down about 5% over 24 hours.
Stocks sold off at the Wall Street open as traders rotated out of technology shares. The S&P 500 lost 2.7%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 4.2% to its lowest level since July 29.
Crypto traders using leverage took heavy losses. CoinGlass data shows nearly $500 million in positions liquidated in the first hour of US trading. Total liquidations over 24 hours reached about $850 million.
Altcoins fell harder than Bitcoin. Ether dropped about 7% to $2,266, Solana lost nearly 7%, and XRP fell more than 5%.
Oil added pressure. WTI crude rose back above $90 per barrel and Brent approached $97 after reports of new tanker strikes in the Middle East. Investors also question how Democrats will handle the US-Iran war.
Bitcoin was already weak before today. It touched $75,618 on Tuesday night as results showed Democrats winning both the House and the Senate. It then bounced to $78,000, where sellers capped the move.
Stocks rallied on Wednesday, and Bitcoin reached $80,500. Talos analyst Kelly Ye said markets had priced in the election. Bitcoin’s election-night move of 1.7% was close to the 1.8% that options implied.
The reversal came from tech. Investors worry that Democratic control could slow the data-center buildout and AI spending, which already faced skepticism over big-tech capital expenditure. Economist Mohamed El-Erian questioned that view, saying he is less sure Congress will slow tech down.
Bitcoin reached an all-time high near $126,000 in October 2025. The price then fell through the winter and spring. By late June 2026 it hit a low near $57,000, roughly 55% below the peak.
Recovery since then has been partial. Bitcoin traded around $65,000 in late July and climbed to the high $70,000s and low $80,000s by autumn. That is still about 40% below the record.
October brought another loss of 7.3%, the second straight losing October after a 4% dip in 2025. This ended the long run of positive Octobers that traders once treated as reliable.
Last Thursday, Binance suffered a $6.3 billion hack. The incident hit confidence across the market, and spot Bitcoin ETFs lost $1.16 billion over three sessions through Monday. Daily outflows were $643 million on Friday, $399 million on Monday and $116 million on Tuesday.
Bitwise research head André Dragosch called the selling short-term risk aversion, not a lasting change in institutional views. He noted that none of 15 surveyed institutions had cut their ETF exposure during the bear market. Net ETF outflows for 2026 total only about $153 million.
Bitcoin and Ether ETFs drew $128 million in a rebound after the midterms. Sentiment remains weak, with the Crypto Fear and Greed Index at 34, in the “Fear” zone.
Bitcoin briefly dipped below its 50-week simple moving average, now at $75,733. This trend line has held as support since mid-September. Material Indicators co-founder Keith Alan calls it a line in the sand and warns that a loss would open the door to a deeper correction.
Trader Rekt Capital sees a pattern from May. Bitcoin then moved sideways near $80,000 before breaking down to $57,000 in late June. He notes that today’s price action looks similar, with lower highs on the three-day chart.
The bearish case is clear. Bitcoin is trading with tech stocks, oil is rising, and ETF flows are fragile. A daily close below $75,700 would remove the support that has held for seven weeks.
The bullish case is smaller but real. Institutions have kept their ETF positions, the election result was largely priced in, and fund inflows returned after the vote. Jordan Watson of Tandem Investment Advisors cautions that the post-election stock gains were never an all-clear. That applies in both directions, since a quick stock rebound could lift Bitcoin too.
Bitcoin’s next move depends on whether the 50-week average holds and on what tech stocks do next. A lasting break below it would put the June low near $57,000 back in view for traders.
