Bitcoin Drops Below $70,000 as $870M in Long Positions Liquidated

Bitcoin fell below $70,000 on November 13, with liquidations hitting traders positioned for gains. CoinGlass measured $869.89 million in Bitcoin long liquidations over the preceding 24 hours, compared with $31 million in short liquidations. Four-hour liquidations totaled $559 million for longs and $16 million for shorts. Bitcoin traded at $69,224 around 10:52 UTC; its rolling 24-hour low was $67,921. The CoinGlass figures cover forced closures of Bitcoin positions tracked by the firm, not changes in Bitcoin market capitalization. Long positions gain value when prices rise. The concentration of long liquidations is consistent with forced exits deepening the price decline. The initial trigger for the selloff remains unresolved. Position closures can occur across different markets and do not always involve selling Bitcoin on the spot market. The prior US stock session also closed lower, though broad indexes posted modest losses. LSEG data published by the Financial Times put the S&P 500 down 0.35% on November 12 at 7,592. An eOption closing recap recorded a 0.39% decline for the Nasdaq and a 1.66% decline for the Russell 2000. eOption also cited dollar strength and higher Treasury yields as investors anticipated tighter Federal Reserve policy. Bitcoin weakness unfolded within this broader retreat from risk. NVIDIA announced on November 12 that Jensen Huang had stepped down as president, CEO and director. NVIDIA said Colette Kress would serve as interim CEO while continuing as CFO. An SEC filing states that the board accepted the resignation of Huang on November 11 with immediate effect. NVIDIA results remain scheduled for November 17, giving investors another occasion to assess the company outlook under interim leadership. Fed Governor Christopher Waller had expressed concerns about interest rates before the Friday cryptocurrency decline. In a November 10 speech, Waller said he favored a December increase of 25 basis points even if October monthly inflation improved. He said a core CPI reading around 0.3% or higher could justify considering an increase of 50 basis points. The remarks represented an individual policy preference, not a commitment by the Federal Open Market Committee. Microsoft continued efforts on Friday to restore services affected by an outage. A 09:57 UTC update, reproduced in the Penn incident feed for Microsoft, described uneven recovery. No direct connection links the outage to the Bitcoin decline. Global technological uncertainty is contributing to broader market risk aversion. The immediate situation for Bitcoin combines heavy pressure on bullish positions with difficult macroeconomic and technology conditions.