Bitcoin's $67,555 Air Pocket: 89% of $1.64B in Liquidations Were Longs
Bitcoin knifed to $67,555 after midnight Friday, its lowest print since mid-August, then clawed back to $69,800. The damage came from the dollar above 103, a 5.15% 10-year yield, and a sixth straight day of ETF outflows. The long side paid for almost all of it.
Bitcoin printed $67,555 just after midnight Eastern on Friday. That's the lowest level since mid-August. By sunrise, buyers had it back above $69,000, and it extended toward $69,800 after the producer-price report. Numbers in context: a gift to anyone who had a resting bid tucked under the 200-week moving average near $68,000.
The driver wasn't crypto. It was the dollar. The Dollar Index held above 103 Friday after a three-day run to its highest since April 2025. The 10-year Treasury sat near 5.15%. And traders still price an 88% chance of a quarter-point hike at the Dec. 8-9 Fed meeting, plus a 12% shot at a half point. Governor Waller put 50 basis points on the table. New York Fed's Williams said Thursday that inflation is still high and more action is coming. That's a rough backdrop for an asset that pays nothing.
The break below $70,000 did the rest. Roughly $1.64 billion in crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours. Bets on higher prices made up nearly 89% of the total, and bitcoin positions accounted for $916 million. Spot bitcoin ETFs added to it, with about $47.7 million in net outflows Thursday, the sixth straight day of withdrawals and roughly $1.49 billion across that run. BlackRock's IBIT alone shed around $2 billion over nine sessions through Wednesday. The fund group has now flipped to about $1.56 billion in net outflows for 2026.
Here's the part that should bother holders. Between Nov. 5 and Nov. 12, bitcoin fell 5.9% while the Nasdaq 100 gained 6.4%. Visualize that spread on a chart. Bitcoin isn't trading with the AI trade anymore. It's trading with yields and the dollar, and that correlation is doing the damage.
Friday's PPI helped a little. Final demand rose 0.3% in October against 0.4% expected. Core matched at 0.3%. But the unadjusted headline is up 6.5% year over year, the biggest 12-month jump since November 2022. The fear and greed gauge dropped to 20, its lowest since July 8. Order-book depth across major exchanges was $72 million on Nov. 9, about 33% below normal. Perp funding turned negative for the first month in a month, so shorts are now paying to stay short.
The chart tells the story: thin books, defensive positioning, a Fed still hiking. Bitcoin is headed for a second straight down year, and the bounce off $67,500 looks like a squeeze, not a bottom.
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Key Terms Explained
The first cryptocurrency, created in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto.
The rate at which prices rise and money loses purchasing power.
An indicator that smooths out price data by calculating the average price over a specific period.
The difference between the highest bid and lowest ask price for an asset.