The short version
- Crypto crash: Bitcoin fell 5.5% to a $76,088 close on Thursday and Ethereum 7.7%, as the Nasdaq 100 dropped 6.4%, its worst day since March 2020.
- The trigger was AI: Democrats who just won Congress called for a pause on advanced AI and a data center moratorium, and chip stocks fell 12.2%.
- About $1.24 billion in crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours, most of it longs during US trading.
- Next: the US jobs report at 13:30 UTC today (8:30 a.m. in Washington). We’ll post the numbers on Base Camp on X as they land.
The post-election rally lasted one day.
On Wednesday, US stocks and Bitcoin jumped after Democrats won both houses of Congress. On Thursday, the same result was read the other way. The Nasdaq 100 fell 6.4%, its worst day since March 2020, and the crypto crash followed it down: Bitcoin closed at $76,088, down 5.5%, and Ethereum lost 7.7%.
The trigger was AI. Several Democrats said a new Congress should slow the AI boom, and the stocks that have carried this market for two years took the hit.
Bitcoin trades at $75,610 at the time of writing, still sitting near Thursday’s low.
This is the post Wall Street kept quoting on Thursday:
Top of the Democratic agenda on day 1 needs to be a pause on advanced AI development, regulation of this out of control industry, and a ban on artificial superintelligence.
Why Is Crypto Down Today?
Because stocks fell first, and the market started pricing a slower AI build-out. Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona posted on Wednesday evening that “top of the Democratic agenda on day 1” should be a pause on advanced AI development and a ban on artificial superintelligence.
She was not alone. Sen. Bernie Sanders repeated his call for a national moratorium on new AI data centers, after voters backed local limits in 43 of 44 communities on election night.
Chips took the worst of it. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 12.2%, its second-worst day on record after March 16, 2020. Nvidia lost 9.3% and Micron 17.5%. Data center and Bitcoin mining names were hit just as hard: IREN fell 17%, MARA 14.4%.
Crypto stocks followed. Coinbase dropped 9.7%, Strategy 9.3% and Robinhood 10.3%.
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How Bad Was the Crypto Crash?
Bad, but this crypto crash was smaller than the one in chips. Bitcoin fell less than the Nasdaq 100 and half as much as the chip stocks.
Leverage made it loud. About $1.24 billion in positions were liquidated across crypto in 24 hours, from 235,397 traders, Lookonchain counted from CoinGlass data. Most of it hit during US trading: CoinGlass data shared by Wu Blockchain showed $818.9 million of longs wiped out in just four hours.
Wednesday’s squeeze had liquidated about $320 million in shorts. Thursday took back more than three times that from the longs.
TheCryptoMonk summed up the afternoon in four words:
SIDE TRAIL: Midterm Election Results: Democrats Sweep Congress, Bitcoin Dips First
Bitcoin Price: What the Weekly Chart Says
Start with the bigger picture. Bitcoin is sitting right on its 50-week moving average, about $75,550. Last Sunday’s weekly close was $78,354, already the lowest since mid-September.
The daily chart has the same story. Thursday’s close of $76,088 is the lowest in 50 days. The low of $75,208 stopped just above $74,968, the September 15 wick and the bottom of this two-month range.
Below that, the 200-day moving average sits at $73,241. Above, the Wednesday close at $80,504 is now the line to win back, with the 50-day MA at $82,045 behind it.
A weekly close under $75,550 on Sunday would be the first below the 50-week average since mid-September, before the run to $87,000.
What Comes Next?
Two things. The first is today. The US jobs report comes out at 13:30 UTC (8:30 a.m. in Washington), and it decides how much room the Fed has in December.
The second is slower. The new Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2027, and any AI bill still needs President Donald Trump’s signature or a two-thirds vote to override his veto. Nothing in Wednesday’s posts is law yet.
Markets sold the headline anyway. Whether they buy it back depends on what the new Congress actually puts on paper.
TRAIL MAP: Bitcoin and the Nasdaq: How Closely Do They Really Move?
TheCryptoMonk has been trading since 2017 and reads the market from the top down. The focus is macro and the high timeframes: where stocks, rates and liquidity are heading, and what the weekly and monthly charts say about Bitcoin. Short-term noise matters less than the bigger trend.
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