Bitcoin falls below $70,000, its lowest level since August

Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $70,000 on Friday, its lowest level since August, as a climbing dollar and fresh Federal Reserve rate worries pulled money out of risk assets. The drop set off more than $1.3 billion in forced liquidations in a day.

Prices sank as low as $67,628 early on Friday, November 13, their weakest since August 19, according to Bloomberg. That capped a two-day slide of as much as 9%, after the coin fell 3.8% on Thursday. Bitcoin later steadied near $69,000, down about 17% so far this quarter, CoinDesk reported.

What pulled Bitcoin below $70,000

This move did not begin with crypto. The US Dollar Index pushed above 103, its highest since April 2025, after a hotter-than-expected October inflation report lifted bets that the Fed could raise interest rates again in December, CoinDesk reported. A stronger dollar and higher rates give investors safer places to park cash, which makes a bet on Bitcoin look less appealing. The slide extended a fall that already took Bitcoin to a three-month low earlier this week.

The dollar move has been building. The index has risen nearly 2% since early October, CoinDesk reported, a slow climb that pulls money toward cash and away from assets that pay no interest. Bitcoin pays no yield. When the return on holding dollars rises, the case for holding a volatile coin gets weaker.

Rich Rosenblum, co-founder of the crypto market maker GSR, said swings in the artificial intelligence trade and the stronger dollar had washed some traders out of their long Bitcoin positions. The hot inflation data added to the pressure.

Jeff Mei, chief operating officer of the crypto exchange BTSE, flagged the Fed as the bigger risk. A half-point rate rise in December, instead of the quarter-point many traders expect, would hit assets like Bitcoin harder. Higher rates reward cash and bonds, so money tends to leave bets that pay nothing to hold.

More than $1.3 billion in bets wiped out

As the price broke lower, leveraged traders paid for it. More than $1.3 billion in crypto futures positions were liquidated over 24 hours, according to Coinglass data cited by CoinDesk. Bitcoin positions made up $677 million of that. Nearly $500 million was closed out in the minutes around the break under $70,000.

A liquidation is a forced sale. When a trader borrows to bet that a price will rise, and the price falls instead, the exchange closes the position to cover the loan. Each forced sale nudges the price down a little more, which sets off the next one. It works like a margin call on shares bought with borrowed money. Miss the cushion, and the broker sells, whether the owner wants it or not. The largest single position closed was a $31 million bet on higher prices on the Hyperliquid exchange, CoinDesk reported.

Sean McNulty, a derivatives trader at the market maker AQC Tech, described the chain reaction. "Once it broke below US$70,000, over US$1 billion of leveraged longs were forced out, which fed more selling," he said. His point captures how a fall can speed itself up. The selling creates more selling, until the forced sales run out.

Not a crypto-only story

Other tokens fell with Bitcoin. Ether (ETH) dropped below $2,000 for the first time since August, trading near $1,953, CoinDesk reported. At one point it was down as much as 6% on the day, according to Bloomberg. XRP sat close to $1. Solana (SOL) traded under $80.

The selling matched a wider retreat from risk. Bonds fell and Asian stocks gave up an early technology-led gain on the same day, according to Bloomberg. That pattern matters. When Bitcoin drops in step with stocks and bonds, the cause usually sits in the wider economy, not in crypto.

None of this changed how the networks run. Blocks were still produced and transactions still settled through the sell-off. The pain landed on traders who had borrowed, not on the software.

Rosenblum also pointed to a leadership change at Nvidia, the chipmaker at the heart of the AI trade, as a drag on risk appetite. When the biggest technology stocks wobble, speculative bets often wobble with them. Bitcoin fell on Friday alongside those same stocks.

A drop this fast reads to some as a sign that crypto is breaking. The numbers point the other way. The trigger was a stronger dollar and nervous stock markets, the same forces pressing on technology shares, as a look at why crypto keeps falling sets out.

What to watch

Policymakers at the Fed meet on December 8 and 9, with the rate decision and a press conference on December 9, according to the central bank's calendar. The December meeting is also one where officials publish updated projections for rates and the economy. A larger rise, or hints of more to come, would likely keep the dollar firm and the pressure on Bitcoin.

Two things are worth tracking until then. The dollar index, now above 103, and the inflation data that shapes the Fed's call. Neither is easy to predict. The next inflation report and the December 9 decision will tell traders whether the pressure eases or builds. No analyst in this sell-off claimed to know where the price lands next.