Bitcoin erased its post-election gains on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, as a sharp decline in U.S. technology and AI stocks spread to crypto markets. The Block reported that bitcoin fell 6% to $75,700 after reaching an intraday low of $75,568, while crypto-wide liquidations approached $1.1 billion over 24 hours.
The decline reversed Wednesday’s rebound above $80,000, which had followed the U.S. midterm elections and signs that the Binance hack had not caused broader market disruption. Analysts cited in the report said election-related optimism had not resolved the macroeconomic or regulatory uncertainties facing crypto.
Equity losses and leveraged liquidations
As of 2 p.m. ET on Nov. 5, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were each down about 3%, while the Nasdaq Composite had fallen 4.7%. The Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, rose approximately 60%.
Bitcoin-linked stocks also declined sharply. Bitdeer and Keel Infrastructure each fell about 20%, while American Bitcoin lost 17% despite announcing a quarterly profit of $126 million. Strategy and Coinbase were each down about 10%. Ether fell more than 7% to $2,247.
According to CoinGlass figures cited in the report, approximately $879.92 million in crypto positions were liquidated within four hours, comprising $818.90 million in longs and $61.02 million in shorts. Over 24 hours, liquidations reached nearly $1.1 billion and affected nearly 211,000 traders.
Those figures carry an important limitation: liquidation estimates generally rely on publicly available data and may significantly understate total liquidations.
Why the rebound failed to hold
Trading firm Wintermute interpreted Wednesday’s rally as temporary relief rather than evidence of a meaningful improvement in underlying market conditions. It attributed the rebound to a combination of relief after the Binance hack, enthusiasm about the election results, optimism about a potential slowdown in AI spending and falling oil prices.
Jasper De Maere, an OTC trader at Wintermute, said those influences had proved short-lived. He pointed to continuing pressures, including escalating tensions in the Middle East and elevated inflation against a strong U.S. economy, while noting that Donald Trump remained president for another two years.
The firm’s assessment was that the initial catalysts for optimism had not displaced the broader macroeconomic pressures on the market.
Regulatory uncertainty after the midterms
Paul Howard, senior director at Wincent, said Democrats’ strengthened position in Congress could make bipartisan cooperation necessary for meaningful progress on crypto legislation over the following two years. With the Clarity Act’s prospects uncertain, he expected the existing regulatory framework to remain largely intact until the next election cycle.
Ryan Kirkley, CEO of Global Settlement Network, said the election could delay crypto legislation without fundamentally changing longer-term institutional demand for digital assets. In his assessment, liquidity, interest rates and the broader economy would continue to influence markets regardless of which party controlled Congress.
Wintermute’s conditional bitcoin outlook
If bitcoin’s weakness continued, Wintermute identified $73,000 and $68,000 as the next levels to watch. Those were conditional reference levels, not assured destinations. The firm said it would need bitcoin to convincingly reclaim and hold $80,000 before adopting a more positive view.
Source: The Block — original article. Original publication timestamp: Nov. 6, 2026, at 04:10 (UTC+08:00). This article summarizes the historical reporting and market conditions described in that source.
