On November 13, Bitcoin dropped beneath the $69,000 threshold, hitting its weakest point since August 19 as liquidation pressure broadened across the digital asset sector.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell 6% to $69,244.3 by 02:11 ET (07:11 GMT), according to Yahoo Finance, before briefly touching approximately $68,500 on Binance and trading near $68,750, as reported by Altcoin Buzz. The decline accelerated as the Dollar Index held steady at 19-month highs, trading above 103.
Market pressure mounted after October’s US inflation data came in hotter than expected. The hot inflation data raised the prospect of higher interest rates, lifting Treasury yields and dampening demand for risk assets such as crypto, according to Lacie Zhang, research lead at Bitget Wallet, cited by Crypto Briefing.
Weakness in technology stocks reinforced the broader de-risking move, Zhang noted.
Binance’s highest liquidations since 2021 signal a fresh wave of deleveraging “Reducing leveraged positions lowers the risk of cascading liquidations and can give spot demand a greater role, helping build a stronger market structure for Bitcoin.” – By @Darkfost_Coc pic.twitter.com/2aomhaH8AK
The sell-off forced cryptocurrency exchanges to forcibly close approximately $1.23 billion in leveraged positions over 24 hours, affecting more than 151,000 traders, according to CoinGlass data cited by Altcoin Buzz. Bitcoin accounted for around $677.5 million of the total, with approximately $653.5 million coming from long positions compared with $24.1 million from shorts.
“Bitcoin is showing signs of a changing market structure, with selling pressure concentrated in derivatives while spot market activity remains comparatively resilient,” said Dean Chen of Bitunix, as reported by Briefs Finance.
Chen added that cumulative volume delta in futures had swung sharply negative while open interest slipped, indicating that leveraged exposure is cooling while market positioning remains mixed.
Other major tokens shared the downward pressure. Ethereum briefly fell below $2,000, triggering $126.7 million in liquidations over 24 hours driven largely by $103.9 million in liquidated long positions, per Coinglass data cited by TMGM.
Institutional outflows compounded the market stress. US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows, with BlackRock’s IBIT alone accounting for more than $1 billion in net outflows over that period.
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Adding to headwinds, MSCI announced that Strategy and other similar Bitcoin treasury companies will be excluded from its benchmark indexes effective November 30. While the change does not present immediate selling risks, it limits the firm’s ability to raise new capital for its massive Bitcoin purchases.
“While that decision was widely expected, it added to the febrile mood around the asset class since the midterms,” said Caroline Mauron of Orbit Markets.
According to Mauron, downside support is currently absent in the near term, with $70,000 serving as the next threshold to monitor.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropped to 20 on November 13, sliding into extreme fear from a reading of 28 a day earlier, as reported by Bitbo. Institutional trading platform Talos noted in its weekly report that bitcoin’s 1% order-book depth across Binance, Kraken, and Coinbase fell to $72 million on November 9, about 33% below normal.
“Liquidity remains thin while leverage stays elevated, leaving the market vulnerable to sharp moves in either direction,” wrote Tanay Ved, senior research associate at Talos, in the report cited by Bitbo.
BREAKING: Bitcoin falls below $69,000 and ETH nears $1,900 as selling pressure accelerates in crypto. Crypto markets have now lost -$150 billion in 48 hours. pic.twitter.com/29QW0khxOh
Anthony Pompliano, co-founder and partner at Morgan Creek Digital Assets, said that artificial intelligence and bitcoin are now considered a single, connected trade as tech equities and digital assets moved in tandem following leadership changes at major corporations. NVIDIA announced that CEO Jensen Huang had resigned effective immediately, with the board naming Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO and Harvey C. Jones as its first-ever independent board chair.
The executive departure sent technology stocks lower and rippled across digital asset markets, which have shown increasing positive correlation with AI stocks over the past months. The broader market environment also reflected pressure from traditional financial sectors, where the 10-year Treasury yield held above 5% and the US government reported a $404 billion deficit for October, the first month of fiscal 2027.
In the broader equity markets, exchange data analyzed by CoinDesk revealed that US spot bitcoin ETFs fell into net outflows for the year as a whole, registering $1.56 billion in net outflows. These funds had previously held a net gain of about $1.01 billion for the year as of October 29 before heavy redemptions occurred.
Talos reported that bitcoin perpetuals open interest sat close to highs near 463K BTC even as prices declined. Analysts highlighted that the combination of thin liquidity, elevated leverage, persistent ETF redemptions, and ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty left digital assets exposed to heightened volatility.
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