Bitcoin fell below $76,000 on Thursday, giving back its post-election rally as a rout in artificial-intelligence stocks swept through Wall Street and dragged cryptocurrencies down with it. The largest digital currency traded at $75,878.64, down roughly 5.5 percent over the previous 24 hours, according to CoinDesk.
The slide erased the rebound that had carried bitcoin above $81,000 on Wednesday, when stocks surged after Democrats swept both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections. Bitcoin peaked at $81,105 before turning lower, and fell as far as $75,463 during Thursday's session — its lowest level since September 16.
The trigger sat on Wall Street. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 5.52 percent and the Nasdaq 100 plunged 6.36 percent, with chip stocks leading the decline after Qualcomm dropped sharply on disappointing smartphone-chip sales. Investors grew worried that the new Democratic Congress could slow the massive buildout of AI data centers that has powered the market's biggest gains.
Crypto-linked stocks were caught in the selling. Coinbase, stablecoin issuer Circle and custody firm BitGo fell between 10 and 15 percent, bitcoin treasury company Strategy lost 9.6 percent, and crypto miners — many of which have been shifting their businesses toward AI computing — tumbled 15 to 20 percent.
The leverage that had built up during the rally turned the move into a flush. More than $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions was liquidated over 24 hours, according to CoinGlass, the largest wipeout since late October, when bitcoin tumbled from nearly $82,000 to $76,000. Traders now watch whether the $75,000 level holds as support, with Friday's October jobs report the next test for risk markets.
