Bitcoin slipped to $74,780.91 on Friday, marking its lowest intraday value in 77 days as turbulence gripped both the cryptocurrency and U.S. equity markets. After this sharp decline, Bitcoin traded near $75,570, struggling to regain momentum in the ongoing session.
Crypto market sees heavy liquidations
Across major cryptocurrency exchanges, liquidations reached $1.05 billion within 24 hours, according to data from analytics platform CoinGlass. The data indicated that long positions accounted for $930.04 million—88.2% of the total—highlighting that most traders had been betting on a price increase. By comparison, short liquidations stood at $124.69 million.
Bitcoin alone represented $267.20 million in liquidated positions, with 88.9% coming from the long side. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, saw $167.14 million in liquidations, 81.1% of which were from long holdings.
This imbalance in forced position closures broadly tracks the current sentiment in the market. The Fear and Greed Index has fallen to 28 points, indicating an environment of rising anxiety among traders where 0 represents peak fear and 100 represents peak optimism. The index had hovered near neutral just a week earlier.
| Asset | Total Liquidations | Long Liquidations (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | $267.20 million | 88.9% |
| Ethereum | $167.14 million | 81.1% |
| All cryptos combined | $1.05 billion | 88.2% |
Liquidation occurs when exchanges automatically close positions due to insufficient collateral, which can intensify downward price momentum, especially in periods of elevated volatility. Leveraged trading increases this risk, as sharp price moves can quickly exhaust a trader’s margin and force a complete position closeout.
Mini dictionary: CoinGlass is a cryptocurrency analytics platform offering real-time tracking of derivatives liquidations, open interest, and trading data across global digital asset exchanges.
Wider market pressure intensifies losses
The crypto pullback mirrored turbulence in U.S. financial markets, driven by a steep selloff in AI and technology stocks. On Thursday, the Nasdaq Composite plummeted 5.52%, its lowest single-day performance in over a year and a half. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped over 12% in the same session, with Nvidia shares down more than 9%.
Investors grew increasingly concerned that Democratic wins in the U.S. midterm elections could pave the way for stricter AI regulation, potentially slowing expansion in the semiconductor sector that underpins much of the recent tech rally. The S&P 500 also fell 4.36%, erasing close to $3 trillion in company market value across its components.
Analysts suggested that Bitcoin had already surrendered most of its recent post-election gains as technology shares dipped. While these simultaneous declines in equities and cryptocurrencies occurred, they may not share a single direct cause.
Key technical indicators and support levels
A stronger-than-anticipated U.S. jobs report released for October led to rising expectations that the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates again in December. Increased borrowing costs generally weigh on speculative assets, putting cryptocurrencies under additional pressure.
Currently, Bitcoin’s 50-day exponential moving average (EMA) stands near $79,756, above the 200-day EMA of approximately $76,497. Despite this bullish long-term structure, Bitcoin has dropped below both EMAs, typically viewed as a sign of mounting weakness.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the daily chart reads 37.7—under the neutral threshold of 50—indicating a leaning toward the oversold zone but not fully there yet. The Average Directional Index (ADX) at 19.7 points to the absence of a strong trend, but the negative directional indicator has overtaken the positive, signaling that bearish sentiment is gaining influence.
Immediate support lies around $74,780, with a daily close below that level likely to direct attention toward the $73,000 to $72,500 area, corresponding to the zone of August’s market breakout. A breach of this range could open the way to further declines toward the psychological $70,000 threshold. On the upside, Bitcoin faces resistance near the 200-day EMA around $76,497, and above that, the $80,000 area remains a challenge for bulls.
Bitcoin is currently trading below both its 50-day and 200-day exponential moving averages, a setup that indicates the latest price decline is eroding longer-term bullish momentum.
