Bitcoin Falls to Three-Month Low as Rate Fears, ETF Outflows and Nvidia Turmoil Weigh
Bitcoin fell to its lowest level in three months on Thursday. It touched about $71,300 during the day and was trading near $71,000 in the evening, down about 4 percent on the day.
The slide extends a sharp weekly drop. Bitcoin traded above $81,000 a week ago and has lost nearly $8,000 since. It is down more than 12 percent over the past month and 18 percent since the start of the year.
The main backdrop is a reversal in rate expectations. The consumer price index for October rose 0.4 percent from the previous month, above the 0.3 percent economists expected. That revived the prospect of a Federal Reserve rate increase in December and pushed the two-year Treasury yield to 4.80 percent. Higher rates make bitcoin, which pays no income, relatively less attractive.
Comments from Fed officials added to the selling. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said policy should move to a restrictive setting, while Fed Governor Christopher Waller left the door open to a half-point increase in December.
Money is also leaving the market. U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded $1.48 billion in net outflows in November. Outflows of $1.28 billion in the first week of the month were the largest since late June.
The trigger on Thursday was Nvidia. News that Chief Executive Jensen Huang had resigned with immediate effect sent Nvidia shares down as much as 10 percent in premarket trading, and bitcoin fell with them. Over the past two years, bitcoin has moved with the same appetite for risk that drives AI and technology shares.
Liquidity inside the crypto market is also drying up. CryptoQuant reported that the supply of Tether fell by $6.6 billion over 60 days, while apparent demand for bitcoin fell by 284,000 coins over 30 days, the fastest decline since March 2025.
Forced selling added to the fall. More than $656 million in leveraged positions was liquidated in 24 hours, including about $555 million in long positions betting on higher prices.
Political and regulatory worries piled on. Democrats won the midterm elections and will control both chambers of Congress from January, raising concern about closer scrutiny of crypto firms, while the crypto market bill remains stalled in the Senate. MSCI dropped Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, from its global equity benchmarks. Miner MARA said it sold 13,597 bitcoin for about $1.1 billion after the third quarter.
Some analysts have suggested that large AI listings such as Anthropic are drawing capital away from bitcoin, though the link has not been established.
On the charts, bitcoin has fallen below its 50-week moving average of $75,153, reversing a bullish signal from September. It is also trading below the roughly $75,600 average cost of short-term holders. The next level to watch is the $70,000 psychological support.
More tests are coming. The producer price index is due on Friday, November 13, and economists expect a 0.4 percent monthly rise. Nvidia reports earnings on November 17, the personal consumption expenditures report is due on November 25, and the Federal Reserve meets on December 8 and 9. Markets now put the chance of a quarter-point December increase at about 88.5 percent, with an 11.5 percent chance of a half-point move.
The price itself carries risk too. A break below $72,000 could push bitcoin toward $70,000, where leveraged long positions cluster. Leverage remains near the highest levels of the past two years, and spot bitcoin funds have now seen five straight sessions of outflows.
