Bitcoin slumps nearly 8% to drop below $70,000

The world’s largest cryptocurrency traded 7.3% lower at $68,754.0, remaining at its lowest levels since early November 2024

Bitcoin plunged nearly 8% on Thursday to hit lows below $70,000 levels, as thinning liquidity and a broad sell-off in global technology stocks triggered renewed pressure on risk assets.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency last traded 7.3% lower at $68,754.0 by 15:06 GMT, remaining at its lowest levels since early November 2024.

Bitcoin has dropped in seven of the last eight trading sessions, declining more than 44% from the record high near $126,000 reached in October.

Reports showed that liquidity was notably thin, amplifying price moves and contributing to a cascade of forced liquidations after bitcoin slid through widely watched thresholds.

The decline followed a sharp sell-off in global technology stocks overnight, where concerns over the pace of artificial intelligence adoption and rising capital spending by major firms weighed heavily on valuations.

Losses in U.S. tech shares spilled into Asian markets and extended into cryptocurrencies, which have increasingly traded in tandem with high-growth equities during periods of market stress.

The move was exacerbated by heavy unwinding of leveraged positions, particularly in derivatives markets, after Bitcoin’s drop below the $75,000 level triggered stop-loss orders.

Nearly $770 million in cryptocurrency positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to data from crypto analytics firm CoinGlass.

Marion Laboure, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, believes the broader Bitcoin sell-off reflects a combination of hawkish Fed signals, institutional outflows & thinning liquidity, and stalled regulatory momentum.

Laboure said Bitcoin’s recent moves mark the end of the “tinkerbell effect,” as it shifts away from a purely speculative phase toward a more institutional asset, while remaining too volatile to replace gold or traditional currencies.

Looking ahead, the analyst believes that Bitcoin is set to mature, adding that regulatory progress and better market infrastructure should support that maturation.

Bitcoin needs to find its specific role; it won’t replace other traditional assets but is also unlikely to disappear, she stated.

Broader macroeconomic pressures also weighed on prices, with the U.S. dollar firming and global bond yields edging higher, reducing appetite for speculative assets.

Sentiment around crypto has deteriorated after weeks of choppy trading and repeated failed attempts to reclaim higher ground.