Bitcoin Falls to 12-Week Low as Dollar Strengthens and Liquidations Hit $1.6B

Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below the $70,000 mark for the first time since August, extending its decline by 3.5% since midnight UTC. The sell-off came as the U.S. dollar strengthened and cryptocurrency liquidations climbed above $1.6 billion within 24 hours.

Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH), the two largest digital assets by market capitalization, plunged to their lowest prices in 12 weeks as traders increasingly anticipated another Federal Reserve interest-rate increase next month. Expectations of tighter monetary policy pushed the dollar higher, lifted bond yields and weakened demand for riskier investments.

Bitcoin declined 3.5% during the latest trading session, breaking below the closely watched $70,000 support level before touching $67,770. This marked its lowest price since August 19. Ethereum also weakened, falling to $1,900, its lowest level since August 18, while the CoinDesk 20 Index dropped 2%.

The cryptocurrency downturn coincided with a broader rally in the U.S. dollar. CME FedWatch data showed that traders were pricing in an 88% probability of a 25-basis-point rate increase and a 12% chance of a larger 50-basis-point hike following hotter-than-expected inflation figures released this week.

The U.S. Dollar Index climbed above 103, reaching its highest level since April 2025. A stronger dollar and rising borrowing costs typically reduce the appeal of speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies.

Market sentiment also weakened following Thursday’s resignation of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, which triggered a 4% decline in shares of the world’s second-largest publicly traded company by market capitalization. Bitcoin has historically shown a strong correlation with technology stocks, making the broader tech-sector weakness another source of pressure.

Crypto Liquidations Exceed $1.6 Billion as Long Positions Take Heavy Losses

Leveraged cryptocurrency traders suffered the largest impact from the downturn. Data from CoinGlass showed that approximately $1.64 billion in positions were liquidated across the crypto market over 24 hours. Bullish long positions accounted for around 88.7% of the total losses.

Bitcoin-related liquidations reached approximately $916 million, while Ethereum positions contributed another $289 million to the overall figure.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs also continued experiencing withdrawals. According to Farside Investors, the funds recorded $47.7 million in net outflows on Thursday, extending their withdrawal streak to six consecutive trading sessions. Combined redemptions during this period reached approximately $1.44 billion.

Investors are also awaiting the release of October producer price index (PPI) data later today. Economists anticipate a monthly increase of 0.4%. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting is scheduled for December 8–9.

Crypto Derivatives Show Heavy Selling and Declining Open Interest

Trading activity in cryptocurrency derivatives increased sharply during the sell-off. Futures trading volume surged 58.3% over 24 hours to $269.1 billion, while aggregate open interest declined 4.6% to $120.2 billion. This combination suggests that traders were closing positions and reducing market exposure.

Liquidations jumped 513.7% to $1.64 billion, with bullish traders accounting for approximately 88.6% of the total. Market-order activity also reflected selling pressure, as sell orders represented 51.9% of taker volume.

Bitcoin futures recorded the largest share of liquidations, with $916 million wiped out. Approximately 95.2% of those losses came from long positions. Bitcoin futures open interest declined 5.4%, compared with a 5.9% price drop, indicating that much of the reduction reflected lower asset prices rather than a substantial withdrawal of capital.

Funding rates also turned moderately negative, meaning traders holding short positions were paying those betting on higher prices. The largest individual liquidation was a $31.1 million Bitcoin long position on Hyperliquid, triggered near $72,250.

Ethereum experienced similar conditions, with approximately $289 million in futures positions liquidated. Long traders accounted for 89.5% of the total. ETH open interest fell 4.1% alongside a 4.9% price decline, suggesting that its futures market also experienced limited net capital withdrawal. Funding rates remained negative as bearish positions gained demand.

Several altcoins experienced even sharper reductions in open interest relative to their price declines. Solana’s open interest dropped 8.6% as its price declined 3.6%. Zcash open interest fell 8% against a 3.8% price decline, while Dogecoin recorded a 7.3% reduction in open interest alongside a 3.4% price drop. These figures indicate that traders were actively closing positions in these markets.

Negative funding rates spread across several major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana and Tron (TRX). This suggests that demand for bearish exposure has increased, with short sellers paying funding fees to maintain their positions. CC recorded the most negative funding rate among the tracked assets.

Market-order data further confirmed the selling trend. All major cryptocurrencies recorded negative cumulative volume delta (CVD) over 24 hours, indicating that aggressive selling outweighed buying activity. Bitcoin experienced the strongest negative reading, followed by Uniswap’s UNI, Dogecoin and Sui’s SUI.

Options markets also showed increasing demand for downside protection. Bitcoin’s one-week 25-delta skew climbed to approximately 14%, indicating that put options had become more expensive relative to comparable call options.

Meanwhile, one-week implied volatility briefly reached approximately 43% before settling near 40%. This suggests that although traders were increasingly concerned about downside risks, they were not aggressively pricing in an even larger volatility event.

For Ethereum options, the $1,800 put contract expiring November 20 attracted the highest trading activity by a significant margin. The strike price sits approximately 7.5% below ETH’s prevailing market price.

Altcoins Extend Losses as DeFi Tokens Face Additional Pressure

Aave’s lending ecosystem also attracted attention after Nasdaq-listed BTCS disclosed that it had sold Ethereum at a loss to protect its approximately $64 million borrowing position from potential liquidation. CoinDesk estimates that the company’s Aave loan could face liquidation if ETH falls toward $1,717.

The CoinDesk DeFi Select Index (DFX) declined 3.5% since midnight UTC, recording the steepest drop among the sector indexes. Aero (AERO) was among the weakest performers in the CoinDesk 100, losing 8%.

Solana declined 2.4% and slipped below $80 despite receiving attention after the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) included the blockchain in its tokenization plans, targeting a 2027 rollout.

Cardano-linked privacy network Midnight (NIGHT) also surrendered some of its recent gains, falling 5.7% after advancing 11% over the previous week.

Not every cryptocurrency traded lower. Near Protocol’s NEAR token gained 2.6%, leading the nine advancing assets in the CoinDesk 100. Falcon Finance (FF) followed with a 2.5% increase, while Kite (KITE) advanced 2.2%. No clear market catalyst was identified behind these gains.

CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index increased to 48 from 39 on Thursday, suggesting that a limited number of alternative cryptocurrencies were beginning to outperform Bitcoin. However, the reading remains below 75, the threshold generally associated with an altcoin season.

Meanwhile, the Crypto Fear and Greed Index stood at 19, indicating extreme fear among market participants as Bitcoin’s decline, institutional withdrawals and widespread leveraged liquidations continued weighing on sentiment.

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