Bitcoin Drops to 11-Week Low as Crypto Losses Top $1 Billion

Bitcoin just had a rough day. The world's biggest cryptocurrency fell as low as $74,780 on Friday — its weakest price in 11 weeks (since August 21). This happened alongside a huge sell-off in the stock market, especially in companies tied to artificial intelligence (AI).

Over $1 billion vanished from crypto trades in just 24 hours. This came from something called "liquidations." Here's what that means in plain English:

• Many traders borrow money to make bigger bets (this is called leverage — using borrowed funds to boost potential profits).
• When prices move against them, the exchange automatically closes their bet to prevent further losses. That's a liquidation.
• A long position profits when prices go UP. A short position profits when prices go DOWN.

The key numbers:

• $1.05 billion total liquidated in 24 hours.
• 88.2% ($930 million) came from "long" bets — meaning most traders expected prices to rise, and got caught out when they fell.
• Bitcoin accounted for $267 million; Ethereum (the second-biggest crypto) for $167 million.

Why did this happen? The trouble started on Wall Street. On Thursday, the Nasdaq (a stock index full of tech companies) fell 5.52% — its worst day in 19 months. Chipmaker Nvidia alone lost over 9%. Investors worried that new political leaders might bring tougher rules on AI, which could slow the tech boom. When big tech stocks fall, risky assets like crypto often fall too.

Fear is rising. The Fear and Greed Index (a tool measuring trader emotions from 0 = total panic to 100 = total greed) now sits at 28 — close to "extreme fear." Just a week ago, it was neutral.

What's next? Experts watch key price levels. If Bitcoin drops below $74,780, the next danger zones are around $73,000 and then the psychological $70,000 mark. To recover, it needs to climb back above roughly $76,500 and then $80,000.

Bottom line: Bitcoin is caught in a wider wave of market fear, and heavily leveraged traders paid the price. It remains a volatile and risky market.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://decrypt.co/382717/bitcoin-price-11-week-low-crypto-liquidations-ai-stock