Bitcoin fell below $76,000 during the Thursday selloff described in Decrypt’s November 5, 2026 report, wiping out its post-election recovery. Separately, approximately $428 million in leveraged crypto long positions were liquidated within an hour, according to the outlet.
The cryptocurrency losses coincided with a sharp retreat in U.S. equities. The S&P 500 fell as much as 3.8%, drawing attention to market-wide circuit-breaker thresholds, but had not triggered the first halt at the time of reporting.
Original publication timestamp: November 6, 2026, at 02:05:21 UTC+8, equivalent to November 5 at 1:05:21 p.m. ET.
Technology shares lead the decline
At around 11 a.m. ET Thursday, the Nasdaq Composite was down nearly 5% and the S&P 500 was down 3.2%. Nvidia had lost more than 6%, while the broader semiconductor index had fallen nearly 11%.
The reversal followed Wednesday’s rally after the Democratic Party’s sweeping midterm election victories. The S&P 500 had gained 1.6%—its strongest daily performance in three months—and the Dow Jones Industrial Average had risen more than 1,500 points. Thursday’s losses erased that rally in a single session.
Less than 24 hours before the selloff, President Donald Trump had celebrated market records on Truth Social, writing that Americans’ retirement accounts were going “through the roof.”
Companies involved in AI infrastructure also came under pressure. Decrypt reported investor concerns that Democratic victories could lead to stricter oversight of data-center construction.
“We suspect there is going to be some scrutiny on this aggressive AI buildout,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, told Reuters.
What would trigger a market-wide trading halt?
U.S. equity circuit breakers are based on the S&P 500’s decline from its previous closing price. After the index’s drop of as much as 3.8%, it would have needed to fall another 3.2 percentage points to reach the first threshold.
For Thursday’s session, Decrypt listed these levels:
| S&P 500 decline | Index level | Trading response |
|---|---|---|
| 7% | 7,150.41 | A 15-minute halt if reached before 3:25 p.m. ET |
| 13% | 6,689.09 | Another 15-minute halt if reached before 3:25 p.m. ET |
| 20% | 6,150.89 | Trading stops for the remainder of the session |
Under New York Stock Exchange rules, the first two thresholds stop applying at 3:25 p.m. ET. The 20% threshold remains active throughout the session. These halts apply across U.S. equity markets, including companies listed on Nasdaq and other exchanges—not only S&P 500 constituents.
Inflation and employment data remain in focus
The source also cited persistent inflation concerns and uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s next interest-rate decision as pressures on stocks. At the time, investors were awaiting Friday’s October employment report for further clues about monetary policy.