Bitcoin fell below $68,000 on Friday, touching its lowest level in nearly three months as a wave of forced selling swept through the cryptocurrency market.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped to an intraday low of about $67,500, its weakest since 19 August, before steadying near $68,000. It was down nearly 10 per cent for the week, putting it on course for its worst weekly performance since June and heading for a sixth consecutive weekly loss.
The slide accelerated once bitcoin broke through $70,000, a level where traders had piled up leveraged bets on further gains. Data from CoinGlass showed more than $1.62 billion in cryptocurrency positions liquidated over 24 hours, with bullish long positions accounting for about 90 per cent of the total. Bitcoin longs alone made up roughly $901 million of the forced selling.
The rout spread across the market. Ethereum slipped below $2,000 to a three-month low of about $1,926, down nearly 15 per cent for the week, while Solana and XRP also fell. Shares in crypto exchange Coinbase were down 5.5 per cent for the week, and Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, had fallen 13.6 per cent.
Institutional demand has also faded. US spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded about $644 million in net withdrawals this week through Thursday, according to SoSoValue data, their third straight week of outflows. Cumulative net outflows for 2026 have now reached $1.56 billion.
Traders pointed to several pressures converging at once. US inflation figures this week came in hotter than expected, with producer prices rising 6.5 per cent year on year in October, the fastest since November 2022, reinforcing bets that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in December. A stronger dollar — the dollar index climbed above 103, its highest since April 2025 — added to the drag, while the shock resignation of Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang rattled risk appetite across markets.
Some strategists also pointed to next week’s hotly anticipated Anthropic share offering, arguing that investors may be selling crypto holdings to free up cash for the IPO, which has already attracted demand six times the shares on offer.
Bitcoin also briefly slipped beneath its 200-week moving average, near $68,000, a long-term trend line watched closely by traders as a gauge of the market’s underlying direction. Its market capitalisation fell below $1.38 trillion, and the Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropped to 20, signalling fear among investors.
Whether the sell-off marks a bottom or the start of a deeper correction is now the question hanging over the market, with traders watching whether bitcoin can hold above the $67,500 area that marked Friday’s low.
Sources: Morningstar (Dow Jones Newswires), FXStreet, CoinDesk, CoinGlass data via TradingView. (Note: liquidation and fund-flow figures are as reported by CoinGlass and SoSoValue.)
