Bitcoin surrendered its post-election rebound on Thursday, November 5, 2026, falling to about $76,500 as technology shares sold off and leveraged crypto positions unwound, according to Decrypt.
Bitcoin was down nearly 5%, returning close to levels seen before Wednesday’s move above $80,000. Ethereum lost more than 5%, other major tokens posted comparable declines, and roughly 90% of the top 100 cryptocurrencies traded lower. About $428 million in crypto long positions were liquidated in one hour.
Original publication: November 6, 2026, at 00:29:11 UTC+08:00. The market moves described below refer to the preceding Thursday’s trading session.
AI spending concerns weigh on stocks
The decline coincided with steep losses on Wall Street. In late-morning trading, the S&P 500 was down about 2.6%, while the Nasdaq had fallen nearly 4%, approaching a correction—a decline of 10% from its peak. Decrypt also described an almost 4% intraday slide in the S&P 500 within minutes, its largest bearish intraday move in months.
The political backdrop had produced competing interpretations. Democrats’ sweep of Congress initially unsettled investors anticipating tougher oversight of industries favored by President Donald Trump. Stocks then rallied Wednesday as traders bet that gridlock would constrain major policy changes and lower oil prices would ease inflation. Bitwise Europe analyst André Dragosch told Decrypt that the Democratic sweep was “largely priced in.”
By Thursday, attention had shifted toward potential constraints on data-center construction, including opposition to rising electricity costs and new facilities. Voters in at least 29 U.S. jurisdictions backed restrictions on data-center development, though not all the measures were binding. According to Reuters, UBS estimated that potential pauses could threaten 30% of planned U.S. data-center capacity additions in 2028.
“We suspect there is going to be some scrutiny on this aggressive AI buildout,” Swissquote senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya told Reuters.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped about 8%, while CoreWeave and Nebius suffered double-digit declines. Tesla fell roughly 9.5%, extending losses after Elon Musk spent heavily supporting Republican candidates.
Alongside regulatory concerns, investors were questioning the returns on large AI investments. “The market’s moving from the promise of AI to the price of AI,” Incline Investment Management chief executive Ted Parkhill told Reuters.
Leverage amplified Bitcoin’s reversal
Wednesday’s Bitcoin rebound had been supported in substantial part by the forced closure of bearish positions. CoinGlass data showed about $378 million in short positions liquidated in one hour as Bitcoin climbed above $80,000.
Thursday’s decline reversed that mechanism: exchanges automatically closed underfunded long positions as prices fell, adding selling pressure. The hourly chart showed Bitcoin dropping through $79,000 to near $76,100.
The crypto market had already lost roughly $300 billion in value over the preceding month. Decrypt cited concerns about AI spending, rising borrowing costs and the fallout from the previous week’s multibillion-dollar Binance hack as part of that backdrop.
The political shift also complicated efforts to revive the stalled Clarity Act, a proposed federal framework for digital assets. The newly elected Congress would not take office until January.
Rates and an unfinished chart pattern
At the time of the report, traders expected another Federal Reserve rate increase in December as inflation persisted. The October jobs report, due Friday, could change those expectations. Higher interest rates generally weigh on demand for speculative investments.
Decrypt’s technical assessment identified $75,000 as the next level to watch and suggested that a recovery above $80,000 could ease pressure. It also noted a possible bearish engulfing pattern on Bitcoin’s daily chart, with Thursday’s decline threatening to swallow Wednesday’s positive candle. That pattern remained unconfirmed because Thursday’s candle had not closed.