Bitcoin Regains $76K as AI Stock Rout Sparks $430M Bitcoin ETF Outflows

Bitcoin recovered the $76,000 threshold on Friday after briefly trading below it during Thursday’s sharp decline in technology stocks.

BTC rebounded above the key level following heavy selling pressure during the U.S. trading session. The downturn wiped out the gains from Wednesday’s post-election rally, as investors withdrew capital from spot Bitcoin ETFs and weakness in technology shares triggered a broader shift away from riskier assets.

Despite regaining $76,000, Bitcoin remains down more than 5.3% over the last 24 hours. The wider CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index also recorded a 6.28% decline during the same period.

According to SoSoValue, U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced $430.2 million in net withdrawals on Thursday. Fidelity’s FBTC led the outflows with $199.9 million, followed by BlackRock’s IBIT with $105 million.

The latest withdrawals reversed Wednesday’s $74.6 million in ETF inflows. This brought cumulative weekly net outflows through Thursday to $869.8 million.

The pressure on digital assets mirrored losses across traditional markets. The Nasdaq plunged 5.5%, while the S&P 500 fell 4.3% on Thursday. Analysts at FalconX and GSR attributed the broader weakness partly to fears that Democrats’ midterm election victory could slow AI data center development, raising further concerns about the returns from substantial infrastructure investments.

Crypto Liquidations Reach $1.26 Billion as Bitcoin Retreats

The latest price decline triggered widespread liquidations across leveraged cryptocurrency markets. CoinGlass data showed that $1.26 billion in leveraged positions were closed within 24 hours, with long positions accounting for $1.12 billion of the total.

The figures suggest that traders who were positioned for further price increases absorbed most of the losses as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies moved lower.

The downturn in equities is also creating pressure across the digital asset industry. Asset managers are reportedly reducing their alternative investments to generate liquidity, meet margin requirements and lower leverage.

Simon-Peter Massabni, head of business development at broker XS.com, said the weakness in stock markets was prompting investment managers to sell alternative holdings to cover margin calls and reduce portfolio leverage.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s earlier rebound showed limited signs of strong market participation. Futures open interest remained mostly unchanged during Wednesday’s recovery, indicating that traders had not significantly increased their leveraged positions.

Another indication of weak U.S. demand came from Coinbase, where Bitcoin traded at a discount compared with Binance. The price difference suggested that American buying interest remained subdued, raising doubts about the strength of the latest recovery.