Bitcoin Slips Below $70,000 for First Time Since August

Bitcoin has fallen back under $70,000, a level it last sat below in August. The decline lacks a single clear cause, with pressure building from multiple factors at once, mostly related to capital exiting the market rather than fresh news. Support is currently seen just above $66,000.

The most obvious indicator lies in exchange-traded funds. US spot bitcoin ETFs have seen outflows for five consecutive days, bringing November’s total withdrawals to nearly $2 billion and pushing overall net flows for 2026 into negative territory. The bulk of those outflows originate from BlackRock’s iShares fund. This points to larger institutional investors cutting their exposure, rather than panic among retail market participants.

Interest rates account for the remaining pressure. A hotter-than-expected US inflation report this week has led markets to assign a high probability to a Federal Reserve rate hike in December. Several Fed officials, including New York Fed President John Williams, have indicated that additional policy tightening remains necessary.

• Fed’s Williams says inflation stubbornly high and Fed still has work to do on policy

Higher real yields combined with the dollar near multi-month highs increase the cost of holding non-income-generating assets, a dynamic that has also driven gold sharply lower this year. Bitcoin is being affected by the unwinding of the “debasement trade” as well: investors who bought hard assets due to concerns about government debt are now focusing on tighter monetary policy instead.

A liquidity squeeze tied to equities adds to the pressure. Cryptocurrencies and AI-related stocks draw from the same pool of speculative capital, and the recent tech selloff has spilled over into digital assets. Next week’s planned Anthropic IPO, which together with its private placement could absorb roughly $90 billion, may also be diverting money away from other risk assets.

Finally, leverage is amplifying the moves. Forced liquidations of leveraged positions exceeded $700 million in a single session this week, converting orderly selling into steeper declines. With the $72,000 level already lost, traders are watching to see whether $70,000 holds. If it does not, the mid-$60,000s are seen as the next support zone.