Bitcoin remained pinned below $75,000 on Monday, trading between $74,162 and $74,500, even as Wall Street staged a sharp recovery led by the Nasdaq. It was the first time the cryptocurrency had fallen below that level since August.
Weekend Sell-Off Sets the Tone
The slide began over the weekend, with Bitcoin briefly touching $73,500, its lowest point since August. The move marks a reversal from early November, when Bitcoin had pushed above $80,000. Measured against the roughly $78,000 level where it traded earlier in the month, Bitcoin is down approximately 5%.
Derivatives Market Takes a Hit
The derivatives market amplified the downturn. More than $1.2 billion in leveraged crypto positions were wiped out in the 24 hours before Monday's session, according to Coinglass data. Of that total, $1.04 billion came from long positions, meaning traders who borrowed to bet on higher prices bore the brunt of the losses.
ETF Outflows Concentrated in IBIT
Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw outflows topping $1.28 billion over the week. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust, ticker IBIT, accounted for approximately $1.21 billion of that total, carrying almost the entire weight of the exodus.
Ethereum Moves in Sympathy
Ethereum did not escape the drag. ETH traded between $2,108 and $2,123, sliding somewhere between roughly 0.8% and 5% alongside Bitcoin depending on the measurement window.
Post-Election Risk-Off Sentiment
The broader backdrop is political. The sell-off followed a wave of risk-off sentiment after the US midterm elections, where Democratic gains raised concerns about the regulatory outlook for crypto. That helps explain the divergence between equities and crypto on Monday, as stocks do not carry the same regulatory question marks.
What It Means for Investors
The most immediate takeaway is that the $75,000 level has flipped from a floor into a ceiling, at least for now. Bitcoin spent Monday unable to reclaim it even as equities offered a favorable tailwind. The ETF flows deserve close attention in the coming weeks. Outflows exceeding $1.28 billion in a single week, concentrated in IBIT, suggest that some institutional holders are reducing exposure while the political picture sorts itself out. For Ethereum holders, the picture mirrors Bitcoin's, with ETH sitting just above $2,100 and moving in sympathy with the broader market.
