Bitcoin Price Trades Near $76,000 as Nasdaq Tumbles into Correction

On Thursday afternoon, Bitcoin's price hovered around $76,000, marking a decline of over 5% for the day. This drop occurred after the asset fell through the mid-$75,000s range, coinciding with a Nasdaq-driven selloff in chip and AI stocks that pushed the market into a formal correction. According to Bitcoin Magazine Pro data, this movement forced the liquidation of more than $1 billion in leveraged positions.

The afternoon trading session continued the momentum from the morning crash, which had already wiped out overnight gains that had previously exceeded $80,000. Bitcoin briefly tested support levels near $75,400 before stabilizing just below $76,000 during the final hour of U.S. cash trading.

Bitcoin traded near $75,900 in the afternoon, positioning itself for its largest single-day decline since June. This move reversed the short-squeeze bounce seen on Wednesday within a single session. Traders who had purchased during the midterm rebound using borrowed capital were the first to be liquidated when stocks declined at the open, and the Bitcoin price failed to reclaim the $77,000 area that had acted as morning support.

Nasdaq’s correction pulls crypto lower

Wall Street established the market tone. The Nasdaq Composite dropped approximately 5% on Thursday, entering correction territory by falling more than 10% below the record close it achieved last month, as reported by CNBC. The S&P 500 declined by roughly 4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 1,600 points.

Semiconductors led the market decline. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell by about 11%, and the iShares Semiconductor ETF recorded its largest one-day drop since March 2020. Nvidia and Broadcom each decreased by around 9%, Qualcomm lost approximately 9%, and Tesla dropped by about 11%.

Investors are adjusting their expectations for a slower buildout of AI data centers under a Democratic Congress. Traders are concerned about potential construction pauses and tighter financing for neoclouds, a risk that has negatively impacted chip and infrastructure stocks since the midterm results. Analysts told CNBC that the $1.2 trillion forecast for AI capital spending next year is currently being revised.

Bitcoin has largely moved in tandem with the AI-heavy sector for most of the year. Miners that sold Bitcoin to fund data centers are now exposed to both trades, meaning political risks related to power and construction are affecting the same companies that previously traded primarily based on Bitcoin's price.

Leverage flush grows past $1 billion

Forced selling kept pressure on the Bitcoin price into the afternoon. Approximately $1.08 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours, including about $954 million in long bets, as futures markets unwound positions that had been established during Wednesday’s short squeeze.

Nearly $900 million of this liquidation occurred during a roughly four-hour period following the U.S. market open, transforming a stock-led break into a cascade of margin calls. Ether also fell below $2,300 as the same leverage was flushed out.

Crypto equities followed the broader decline. Strategy (MSTR), Coinbase (COIN), and Circle (CRCL) each fell by more than 10%, while Bitcoin miners dropped by as much as 20%. Keel Infrastructure (KEEL), which sold its entire Bitcoin treasury for $192 million, slid by about 20%. CleanSpark (CLSK), Cipher (CIFR), and TeraWulf (WULF) each lost more than 12%.

What comes next for bitcoin price

The next major test is Friday’s October jobs report, followed by the October CPI data on Nov. 10 and the Fed’s decision on Dec. 9. Policy risk is also increasing, with House Democrats drafting their own market structure bill ahead of taking over committees in January.

Traders are monitoring whether the Bitcoin price can hold the mid-$75,000 area that served as support on election night and on several occasions since August. A clear break below this level would leave Bitcoin with room to fall further, reaching its weakest levels in months and bringing the September low back into view.

Options markets have remained quiet leading up to the jobs report, but the cash market has not. Volume remained elevated throughout the afternoon as stocks and crypto sold together rather than moving in opposite directions.

At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is near $75,900.