Wednesday's post-election bounce vanished when U.S. tech stocks had their worst day since April 2025, and leveraged crypto longs paid the price.
By Methodical Jon | Nov 5, 2026
Bitcoin (BTC) gave back Wednesday's post-election rebound on Thursday, November 5th 2026, as a rout in AI and semiconductor stocks spilled into digital assets. As of about 8 PM ET, bitcoin traded near $75,900 USD, down roughly 5.5% to 6% over 24 hours, after an intraday low around $75,570 USD. Ether (ETH) was near $2,230 USD, down about 7.5%. Total crypto market capitalization sat near $2.58 trillion USD, per CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap.
What happened
U.S. equities had their worst session since the April 2025 tariff shock. The Nasdaq Composite closed down 5.52% at 24,315.00 and entered a technical correction. The S&P 500 fell 4.36% to 7,353.73, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,833.06 points, or 3.44%, to 51,523.06, according to CNBC and Reuters. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged about 12%, its worst day since March 2020.
Crypto followed. CoinDesk had bitcoin just below $76,000 USD into the U.S. close, with ether down about 7.5%. The Block reported bitcoin down about 6% to near $75,700 USD after that low near $75,568 USD — wiping out Wednesday's climb back above $80,000 USD.
Forced selling amplified the move. CoinGlass data cited by CoinDesk, The Block and Crypto Times showed roughly $1.09 billion to $1.1 billion USD in crypto derivatives liquidations over 24 hours, with longs about $955 million USD of that total and around 210,000 traders affected. Nearly $880 million USD clustered in four hours, The Block said. Bitdeer and Keel Infrastructure each fell about 20%; Strategy and Coinbase were each down about 10%.
Why the rally faded
Tuesday's midterms handed Democrats both chambers of Congress. Wednesday's tape treated that as gridlock relief and short covering. Thursday focused on whether tougher oversight could slow the AI data-center buildout supporting tech stocks — and miners pivoting into power and compute.
"We're seeing some fresh selling come back to the market as the implications of slower data center buildout come into focus," Joshua Lim of FalconX told CoinDesk, adding that Wednesday's bounce "was driven by a lot of short-covering into a well-telegraphed result." Carlos Guzman of GSR told CoinDesk the midterms layered onto worries already building about AI infrastructure returns. Wintermute's Jasper De Maere told The Block Wednesday's mix of hack relief, election optimism and cheaper oil proved "so short-lived that it actually didn't really matter."
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs took in a net $74.6 million USD on Wednesday, November 4th, ending a three-session outflow streak, per Farside Investors. Fidelity's FBTC added $236.7 million USD while BlackRock's IBIT still saw $201.2 million USD leave. Thursday's Farside print was still incomplete after the close.
Why it matters
Crypto traded as a high-beta risk asset today, not as digital gold. Gold rose while bitcoin fell, CoinDesk noted. Wednesday's push above $80,000 USD leaned on short liquidations; Thursday flipped that into long liquidations. Token treasuries and crypto-backed loans can get hit in the same window as equity books.
Wintermute flagged $73,000 USD and $68,000 USD as levels to watch, and said bitcoin would need to reclaim and hold $80,000 USD before turning more constructive, per The Block. Watch Friday's jobs report and the next complete ETF flow print.
For how crypto markets get translated for traditional investors when tapes turn fast, listen to Episode 98 - Spotlight: Michael Ippolito - Founder of Blockworks.io. Ippolito built Blockworks to bridge crypto and mainstream finance — the same crossover driving today's move.
The money lesson
1. A relief rally is not a trend. Short-covering after a telegraphed election can lift prices without lasting buyers. Size for the unwind.
2. Leverage turns a dip into a cascade. Most of Thursday's roughly $1.1 billion USD wipeout hit longs. If the thesis needs borrowed money on a one-day horizon, the market can decide for you.
3. Test the hedge claim. Bitcoin moved with AI and chip stocks today. "Uncorrelated" is a hypothesis, not a slogan.
4. Watch the plumbing. Complete ETF flows, funding rates and whether $80,000 USD holds on a reclaim matter more than one red candle.
At the time of writing (about 8 PM ET), bitcoin was near $75,900 USD and ether near $2,230 USD. This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice.
Sources:
- CoinDesk, "Bitcoin tumbles to $76,000 as collapsing AI trade drags stocks sharply lower" (Nov 5, 2026): https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/11/05/bitcoin-crypto-stocks-caught-in-ai-trade-meltdown-but-wintermute-trader-sees-glass-half-full
- The Block, "Bitcoin erases post-election gains as Wall Street selloff triggers over $1 billion in crypto liquidations" (Nov 5, 2026): https://www.theblock.co/news/markets/2026-11-05-bitcoin-erases-post-election-gains-wall-street-selloff-liquidations-435434
- CNBC, Nov 5, 2026 market close: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/04/stock-market-today-live-updates.html
- Reuters via Investing.com, "Trading Day: A November 5 market bonfire" (Nov 5, 2026): https://www.investing.com/news/economy-news/trading-day-a-november-5-market-bonfire-5005919
- Farside Investors, Bitcoin ETF flows (Nov 4, 2026 +$74.6M): https://farside.co.uk/BTC/
- CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap pricing as of about 8 PM ET, Nov 5, 2026
- Crypto Times / CoinGlass liquidations (Nov 5, 2026): https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/11/06/crypto-market-falls-5-to-2-64t-as-btc-and-eth-erase-post-election-gains/
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This article may be AI-assisted and is subject to errors and omissions.