Bitcoin Ends Week Near $68,400 as Nasdaq Logs Best Week Since August
Bitcoin is down about 10% from last Friday after touching $67,632, its lowest since Aug. 19. The dollar index hit its highest level since April 2025.
Bitcoin was trading near $68,400 at 5:57 p.m. ET on Friday, down 4.2% in 24 hours, per CoinGecko. That leaves it about 10% below last Friday's daily close near $75,700, according to Investing.com and ChainRegistry data.
Stocks had a different week. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.91% on Friday to 25,136.27 but still posted its best week since August, CNBC reported. The S&P 500 slipped 0.4% to 7,561.67, and the Dow added 50.46 points to 52,347.55.
A 12-week low, then a small bounce
Bitcoin fell as low as $67,632.68 on Friday, its lowest since Aug. 19, according to Coin Metrics data cited by CNBC. Unchained put the low at $67,555 on Coinbase. Ether traded near $1,929, down 4.1%, per CoinGecko.
Bitcoin's slide came as the dollar strengthened. The dollar index, a gauge of the U.S. currency's strength, reached its highest level since April 2025 on Friday after hotter-than-expected inflation data this week raised expectations of more Fed tightening, CNBC reported. The 10-year Treasury yield hit 5.10% on Thursday, up from 4.88% on Monday, Unchained reported.
How forced selling deepens a drop
Traders who borrow to bet on crypto put up collateral. When the price moves against them far enough, the exchange closes the position automatically. That is a liquidation. Each forced sale adds selling pressure, which can trip the next batch of positions. CoinGlass data showed more than $1 billion in leveraged bitcoin liquidations this week, CNBC reported, and Unchained said most of the positions wiped out were bets on higher prices.
CoinShares has a $70,000-to-$90,000 base case for bitcoin into 2027. "The move below US$70,000 puts the lower end of that view under pressure, and we should not assume it represents a hard floor," CoinShares research head James Butterfill told Unchained.
The Fed held its target range at 3.75% to 4% on Oct. 28. Its next meeting is Dec. 8-9.
In our opinion: the gap between a winning week for the Nasdaq and a 10% slide for bitcoin says this selloff is about rates and the dollar more than about stocks. Leverage made the move sharper, and more than $1 billion in longs paid for it. The next hard date on the calendar is the Fed's Dec. 9 decision, with new projections attached.
Sources: CNBC: Nasdaq falls on Friday but notches best week since August (live updates, i · Unchained: Bitcoin breaks below $70,000 as liquidations sweep through leveraged · CoinGecko: bitcoin and ether prices (Nov. 13, 5:57 p.m. ET) · Investing.com: Bitcoin Real-Time Index historical data · ChainRegistry: bitcoin daily closes · Federal Reserve: FOMC meeting calendar
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