Bitcoin slides under $72,000 as liquidations surge

Bitcoin fell below $72,000 on Thursday, November 12, 2026, extending a week of volatile trading and marking its lowest level since mid-August. Prices briefly dipped to about $72,200 shortly after 8 a.m. ET before sliding further to an intraday low near $71,670 around 9:29 a.m. In later morning trade, Bitcoin changed hands close to $71,800 on major venues, leaving it roughly $31,200 below where it stood one year ago.

The selling gathered pace in two stages. After Wednesday’s close, Bitcoin slipped from around $74,700 to near $73,400 by 6 p.m. ET and then moved sideways overnight. A second leg lower began around 6 a.m. ET, with losses accelerating later in the morning as liquidation-driven activity intensified and hourly price charts showed a pattern of lower highs and lower lows.

Derivatives markets amplified the downturn, turning a weak session into a punishing liquidation event for bullish traders. Over the past 24 hours, crypto derivatives recorded over $656 million in liquidations, including over $555 million in longs and more than $100 million in shorts. At least 122,000 traders were liquidated in the measured period, underscoring the concentration of leverage in bullish bets.

Bitcoin-linked contracts bore a large share of the damage, with around $237 million in BTC liquidations, followed by roughly $122 million in ethereum positions and about $23 million tied to solana. One of the largest single moves involved a $31.09 million BTC-USD long position on Hyperliquid (HYPE) that was closed around $72,250. On exchanges, Binance accounted for roughly 37% of liquidation activity, and about $226.5 million in positions vanished around 8:15 a.m., mostly from longs.

The crypto slump unfolded alongside turmoil in AI and semiconductor stocks after Nvidia (NVDA) announced that Jensen Huang had resigned as CEO, president and board member, effective immediately. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress was named interim CEO and Harvey C. Jones became the company’s first board chairman. Nvidia shares plunged nearly 10% in premarket trading, fell as much as 14% at the open, and were still down about 8% in early trading.

The decline in Nvidia has been steep in recent weeks, erasing roughly 22% of its value since the start of November and cutting its market capitalization from $4.93 trillion on October 30 to about $3.86 trillion in early Thursday trading. Since its October 6 peak, about $1.9 trillion in market value has been wiped out. The leadership shakeup, which came amid investigations into two reported extramarital affairs involving Huang, weighed on semiconductor and AI infrastructure stocks broadly.

Micron (MU), Marvell Technology (MRVL), Sandisk (SNDK) and Western Digital (WDC) all declined, while AI hardware suppliers Lumentum, Coherent and Dell (DELL) lost roughly 3% to 5%. AI cloud providers such as CoreWeave (CRWV), Nebius (NBIS), IREN and Applied Digital (APLD) also traded lower, with Nebius (NBIS) plunging about 16% after cutting its revenue outlook. In contrast, Nvidia rivals AMD (AMD) and Broadcom (AVGO) gained about 3.7% and 5.6%, respectively, as investors reassessed the competitive landscape.

Beyond the equity shock, macroeconomic concerns continued to pressure Bitcoin. Hotter-than-expected inflation data and renewed speculation about further Federal Reserve tightening kept risk sentiment fragile. Market participants highlighted scheduled data releases, such as inflation reports and Fed meetings, as “known unknowns” that could spark volatility, alongside unscheduled shocks that remain harder to anticipate.

Spot crypto exchange-traded funds registered continued outflows. U.S. Bitcoin funds recorded about $299.8 million in net redemptions on Wednesday, bringing five-session outflows to roughly $1.44 billion. Spot ethereum ETFs saw an additional $144.8 million in outflows on Wednesday, with around $524 million leaving over the past five sessions.

The broader crypto market mirrored Bitcoin’s decline. Ethereum (ETHUSD) briefly slipped below $2,000, solana traded near $81, and XRP hovered around $1.02. Total crypto market capitalization declined approximately 2.7% over 24 hours to $2.38 trillion. Traders now face the combination of falling prices, elevated open interest above $50 billion and reduced leverage capacity after the latest wave of liquidations.

Recent trading shows Bitcoin moving closely with large technology and AI-related stocks. Earlier in the week, Bitcoin dropped when a prior Nvidia probe unsettled markets, then lagged a subsequent rebound in chip stocks before Thursday’s fresh slide erased those modest gains. Commentators observed that without a strong crypto-specific catalyst, Bitcoin has become more sensitive to macro developments and shifts in growth and AI sentiment.

A Schwab crypto strategist noted that Bitcoin has recovered more than 30% from earlier lows, entering what he described as a new bull market, but emphasized its current dependence on broader financial conditions. He framed risk around both scheduled macro events and unexpected shocks, while highlighting that uncertainty around AI spending could eventually influence how Bitcoin miners allocate computing resources between mining and AI services.