Election Champagne Popped, $BTC Got the Hangover: Wall Street’s AI Rout Unleashes $1B Liquidations

Bitcoin ($BTC) erased its post-election rally and fell below $76,000 on Thursday, November 5, 2026, retreating as a technology-led Wall Street selloff triggered more than $1 billion in crypto liquidations. The asset traded near $75,570 on Friday after touching $74,780.91, its lowest intraday reading since August 21, while the broader decline left it below its 50-day and 200-day exponential moving averages. Ethereum ($ETH) also fell sharply, while roughly 90% of the top 100 cryptocurrencies traded in the red during the selloff.

The move followed Bitcoin’s climb above $80,800 after the Democratic Party won both chambers of Congress and several governorships. Markets initially interpreted the result as promising legislative gridlock, but Thursday brought concern that Democratic victories in major data-center states could slow permitting, restrict construction and intensify scrutiny of the artificial-intelligence buildout. UBS estimates that potential pauses could threaten 30% of planned US data-center capacity additions in 2028. “We suspect there is going to be some scrutiny on this aggressive AI buildout,” Swissquote senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya told Reuters.

Technology stocks bore the brunt of the reversal. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.52% to 24,315, its worst session in 19 months, while the S&P 500 fell 4.36%, erasing roughly $3 trillion in market value. The Dow shed 1,833 points, and the iShares Semiconductor ETF fell more than 12%, its worst day since March 2020. Micron dropped 17.5%, AMD 17.3%, Marvell 16.4% and Nvidia 9.3%. Earlier figures showed the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down about 8% and the chip index down 11.2%, while Reuters quoted Ted Parkhill, chief executive of Incline Investment Management, saying, “The market’s moving from the promise of AI to the price of AI.”

Leverage accelerated the crypto decline. CoinGlass data showed $1.08 billion in crypto positions liquidated over 24 hours, including approximately $954 million in bullish bets; another 24-hour reading put the total at $1.05 billion, comprising $930.04 million in long positions and $124.69 million in shorts. CoinGlass reported that 209,826 traders faced liquidation, with Bitcoin accounting for $282.37 million and Ethereum for $173.75 million, while 89.4% of Bitcoin liquidations came from long positions. A single trader was forcibly liquidated eight times in succession, losing 201 $BTC worth about $15.6 million, according to Lookonchain.

US spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs recorded approximately $530 million in combined net outflows, including about $430 million from Bitcoin funds and approximately $100 million from Ether funds. Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund ($FBTC) led Bitcoin withdrawals with $199.9 million, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ($IBIT) lost $105 million and extended its withdrawal streak to five consecutive sessions, and Grayscale’s GBTC lost $49.9 million. Wednesday’s $74.6 million combined inflow was followed by $869.8 million in weekly net withdrawals, according to Farside Investors and SoSoValue data.

Attention also turned to the Federal Reserve. CME FedWatch December rate-hike odds fell to 68.1% from 82.7%, according to one report, while another placed them at 70.1% from 82.7%. FactSet economists expected Friday’s October jobs report to show 65,000 new jobs and a 4.2% unemployment rate. The new Congress does not take office until January, and Democrats’ control complicates efforts to revive the stalled Clarity Act, a proposed federal rulebook for digital assets.