Bitcoin falls below $70,000 as liquidations surge

Bitcoin fell below $70,000 on Friday, Nov. 13, extending a two-day decline that took its price as low as $67,628, the lowest since Aug. 19. It later recovered some ground to trade near $69,200 in early New York trading. The move followed Thursday’s drop and left the cryptocurrency down as much as 9% over the two days, according to market data cited in reports.

CoinGlass data put cryptocurrency liquidations at about $1.5 billion over a 24-hour period, with more than $1 billion in bullish positions wiped out. Leveraged traders forced to close positions added selling pressure after Bitcoin moved below $70,000, said Sean McNulty, a derivatives trader at AQC Tech. A separate snapshot reported $1.6 billion in liquidations over the past day, affecting 185,172 traders, with long positions making up about 89.5% of the total.

The decline came amid concerns about inflation and the prospect of higher interest rates, alongside withdrawals from spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and weaker risk appetite. US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded more than $2.5 billion in net outflows from Oct. 30, according to one report. Another report said the funds had seen about $1.4 billion in withdrawals...