Bitcoin Drops to the $73,000 Range in 15 Minutes as Short-Term Liquidations Top $1 Billion

Bitcoin plunged more than $2,000 in 15 minutes, falling to its lowest level since August. More than $1 billion in leveraged positions was forcibly liquidated across the broader cryptocurrency market, including Ethereum.

Crypto outlet Bitcoin.com reported on November 9 that Bitcoin fell to $73,477 from $75,690 in 15 minutes during U.S. trading hours. Its cumulative loss over the past four days reached 9%, and it was recently trading around $74,500.

Two negative developments were cited as the backdrop to the selloff. Reports said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged an affair in an internal memo, while the board was investigating whether it had been targeted by a foreign intelligence agency. At the same time, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said nuclear talks with Iran had effectively collapsed, adding to geopolitical anxiety. In a thin weekend market, the two developments combined to trigger liquidations of leveraged long positions.

Liquidations were concentrated in Ethereum. Ethereum liquidations totaled $448 million, about double Bitcoin's $272 million. The largest single liquidation order was also an Ethereum position, at $48 million. On-chain analytics platform Lookonchain said one bullish Ethereum investor lost $44.78 million on a 56,667 ETH long position.

The steep drop also drew dip buyers. One wallet borrowed $22 million worth of Tether from decentralized lending protocol Aave and bought 10,000 Ether at $2,155.

Market sentiment also deteriorated. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index stood at 29, remaining in the "Fear" zone. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw about $1.28 billion in net outflows over the past week. Prediction market platform Polymarket reflected a 67.5% probability that Bitcoin falls to $72,500 this month and a 46.5% probability that it declines to $70,000.