Bitcoin plunges below $69,000 and Ethereum breaks under $2,000 in $1.5 billion market wipeout
Bitcoin tumbled as low as $67,555 and Ethereum fell below $2,000 Friday as surging 10-year U.S. Treasury yields above 5.1 percent, dollar strength, and tech-sector turmoil triggered nearly $1.5 billion in forced derivatives liquidations.
NEW YORK — Bitcoin tumbled below the closely watched $69,000 threshold and Ethereum broke under $2,000 on Friday as a surge in U.S. government bond yields, a multiyear rally in the dollar, and lingering shockwaves across technology stocks triggered a $1.5 billion wave of forced liquidations.
After trading near $72,810 on Thursday morning, the world’s largest digital asset slid roughly 7 percent over 24 hours, slicing below $70,000 overnight and hitting an intraday low of $67,555 on Coinbase—its weakest print since August—before stabilizing near $68,800 to $69,100 in early New York trading. Ether dropped 6 percent to roughly $1,920, while major tokens including Solana and XRP posted parallel losses.
Nearly 90 percent of forced closures hit bullish traders
Once Bitcoin lost psychological support at $70,000 and slipped underneath its 200-week moving average, automated margin calls cascaded rapidly across derivatives exchanges. Market trackers recorded between $1.47 billion and $1.65 billion in liquidated positions across more than 175,000 trader accounts over 24 hours.
Overcrowded bullish wagers bore roughly 89 to 90 percent of the damage. Bitcoin positions accounted for $783.1 million of the wipeout, followed by $259.7 million in Ethereum and $53.6 million in Solana, capped by a single $31.1 million Bitcoin long position closed by force on decentralized venue Hyperliquid.
Institutional demand also showed signs of cooling ahead of the breakdown, with U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds logging roughly $300 million in net investor redemptions earlier in the week alongside outflows from spot Ether funds.
Surging 5.13 percent bond yields and tech jitters weigh on risk appetite
Strategists attributed the pullback less to industry-specific headlines than to a relentless macro squeeze on high-beta assets. Following hawkish commentary from Federal Reserve officials warning that sticky inflation could require additional monetary tightening, the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed to 5.13 percent on Friday morning—the same borrowing-cost surge that has pushed U.S. existing-home sales down to their slowest pace since 2010—while the U.S. dollar index touched its highest mark since April 2025.
Sentiment across speculative assets was further rattled Thursday by Jensen Huang’s abrupt resignation as chief executive of AI bellwether Nvidia, which sparked violent rotations across Wall Street semiconductor portfolios. Equity futures found modest footing Friday morning after the Labor Department reported that October’s Producer Price Index rose 0.3 percent—slightly milder than economists feared—leaving traders watching closely to see whether buyers can defend the $68,000 to $69,000 band heading into the weekend.