Bitcoin fell below $70,000 on Friday for the first time since August, as more than $1.2 billion of leveraged crypto bets were wiped out and U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs kept losing money. The largest cryptocurrency traded near $68,100 on Coinbase at the time of writing, down about 7.4% over 24 hours, after briefly dipping to $67,555, its lowest price since Aug. 19.
Ether dropped as low as $1,894, its weakest level since Aug. 18, and was down nearly 7% on the day. Solana slipped under $80 and XRP briefly traded below $1.
How the break happened
Coinbase data shows bitcoin first poked below $70,000 just before 03:00 UTC, bounced, then gave way in a roughly 20-minute slide that took it to $68,825. It made a lower low of $68,442 within the next half hour then kept grinding lower before a sharp drop to $67,555 just before 06:00 UTC. The last time bitcoin traded under $70,000 on Coinbase was Aug. 20.
The move extends a slide that has run for weeks. Bitcoin has posted five straight lower weekly closes since early October, falling from $86,507 to $74,754 on Sunday, and is down nearly 9% so far this week. From its Oct. 1 open of roughly $83,560 it has lost about 18% this quarter, and it now sits around 46% below its October 2025 record of $126,296.
Leverage did the rest
Futures traders were caught leaning the wrong way. Exchanges liquidated more than $1.3 billion of crypto futures positions in the 24 hours to early Friday, and nearly $500 million of that came as bitcoin crossed below $70,000, CoinDesk reported, citing CoinGlass data. Bitcoin accounted for about $677 million. The largest single liquidation was a bitcoin long worth more than $31 million on Hyperliquid.
The split was lopsided. Crypto.news, also using CoinGlass figures, put bitcoin long liquidations at about $653.5 million against roughly $24 million of shorts, meaning more than 96% of the bitcoin positions closed out were bets on higher prices. When that many longs sit just under a round number, a break tends to feed on itself as forced selling hits the order book.
Friday’s wipeout topped Sunday’s, when more than $1 billion was liquidated and bitcoin bottomed at $73,477, as we reported at the time. That low gave way on Tuesday after a hot inflation report, and Friday’s drop also went through the Aug. 20 low of $68,853.
ETF buyers are still missing
The other side of the trade is demand, and the funds that soaked up supply for most of the past two years are now sellers. Farside Investors data shows U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lost $299.8 million on Wednesday, their fifth straight day of net outflows, for a five-session total of about $1.44 billion. In November, the funds have had net outflows on seven of eight full trading days, for a combined $1.88 billion. The only inflow day was Nov. 4.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) is doing most of the selling. It has posted outflows for nine sessions in a row since Oct. 30, totaling about $2 billion, including $269.7 million on Wednesday. Grayscale’s GBTC lost $39.1 million that day, while Morgan Stanley’s MSBT took in about $9 million. CoinDesk, using SoSoValue data, reported the same five-day total.
Thursday’s numbers were still incomplete at the time of writing. Farside had not yet posted figures for IBIT or Fidelity’s FBTC, while the funds that had reported showed net outflows of $47.7 million, led by Bitwise’s BITB. A sixth straight day of outflows would push November’s losses toward $2 billion. The selling had already erased the funds’ 2026 net inflows by last Friday, as we noted then.
The macro backdrop
The dollar is adding pressure. The Dollar Index traded above 103 on Friday, its highest since April 2025, according to CoinDesk, as traders priced in more rate hikes from the Federal Reserve after October’s consumer price index came in hotter than expected. That print landed the same day Fed Governor Christopher Waller set out the conditions for a half-point move, which we covered in our CPI report.
Risk appetite in tech has also taken a hit. Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia’s chief executive on Thursday, and the stock’s slide weighed on the wider tech sector that bitcoin has tracked closely in recent weeks. Overnight, reports that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had destroyed a U.S. radar in Bahrain added to the risk-off mood.
What to watch
The next data points are Thursday’s full ETF flow figures, particularly whether IBIT extends its streak to ten sessions, and Sunday’s weekly close, which would be the sixth lower close in a row if bitcoin stays below $74,754. On the charts, $70,000 has flipped from support to the first level bitcoin would need to reclaim. Below the market, the Aug. 19 low sits near $64,100 on Coinbase. None of that makes a further drop certain: bounces after heavy long liquidations are common once forced selling runs out, and a large share of leveraged longs has already been flushed out.
FAQ
Why did bitcoin fall below $70,000?
A mix of factors: five straight days of U.S. spot ETF outflows, a stronger dollar and higher Fed rate-hike odds after a hot October CPI, a tech sell-off after Nvidia’s CEO resigned, and more than $1.2 billion in crypto futures liquidations, mostly long positions.
When did bitcoin last trade below $70,000?
On Coinbase, bitcoin last traded below $70,000 on Aug. 20. Friday’s low of $67,555 was its lowest price since Aug. 19.
How much have bitcoin ETFs lost this month?
Farside data shows about $1.88 billion of net outflows from U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs from Nov. 2 to Nov. 11, with BlackRock’s IBIT down about $2 billion over nine sessions since Oct. 30. Thursday’s totals were not yet complete.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
