Bitcoin’s Election Honeymoon Ended at $80K, but Leverage Filed the Final Invoice

Bitcoin ($BTC) reversed its post-election rally on Thursday, November 5, 2026, falling as low as $75,463 and testing the $75,000 support level after reaching above $80,800. The retreat coincided with a $3 trillion US stock-market rout led by artificial-intelligence and semiconductor shares, as investors reconsidered the economic impact of Democratic victories in Congress and gubernatorial races in major data-center states. By Friday, Bitcoin traded near $75,570 after touching $74,780.91, its lowest intraday level since August 21.

Technology stocks led the selloff. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.52% to 24,315, its worst session in 19 months and enough to enter correction territory, while the S&P 500 dropped 4.36% and the Dow lost 1,833 points. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell more than 12%, its worst day since March 2020, and Micron lost 17.5%, AMD 17.3%, Marvell 16.4% and Nvidia 9.3%. Investors weighed slower data-center permitting and tighter oversight of the AI buildout against concerns about the returns on massive AI spending. Swissquote senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya told Reuters, “We suspect there is going to be some scrutiny on this aggressive AI buildout.”

Forced liquidations amplified Bitcoin’s decline. CoinGlass data showed $1.08 billion in crypto positions liquidated over 24 hours, including $956 million in longs and $130.78 million in shorts, while 209,826 traders were liquidated. Bitcoin accounted for $282.37 million, with 89.4% coming from long positions, and Ethereum ($ETH) followed with $173.75 million. Lookonchain reported that one trader lost 201 $BTC, worth $15.6 million, through eight successive liquidations.

US spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds recorded approximately $530 million in combined net outflows, according to SoSoValue. Spot Bitcoin funds lost roughly $430 million, led by approximately $200 million from Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), while BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) shed $105 million, extending its withdrawal streak to five sessions and bringing losses since October 30 to more than $1 billion. Ether funds lost approximately $100 million. Wednesday’s $74.6 million inflow into US Bitcoin ETFs briefly reversed the preceding session’s positive flows.

Bitcoin briefly traded below its 50-week simple moving average at $75,733, while the 50-day exponential moving average sat near $79,756 and the 200-day exponential moving average was around $76,497. Attention also turned to the Federal Reserve’s December 9 decision, with CME FedWatch December rate-hike odds falling to 68.1% from 82.7%, and Friday’s October jobs report, for which economists expected 65,000 new jobs and a 4.2% unemployment rate. Bitcoin’s decline followed $80,000 in the other direction, and the next session would determine whether $75,000 could hold.