Bitcoin Drops Under $79,000 as Chip Selloff Sinks Nasdaq 2%

Bitcoin gave up the $79,000 line Thursday afternoon, sliding from $79,416 to $78,934 and printing a fresh session low of $78,864. The coin had run as high as $80,918 earlier in the day, and Wednesday closed at $80,504. On the 24-hour clock it's basically flat, down 0.2%.

The background noise was all stocks. The Nasdaq fell roughly 2.2%, the S&P 500 slipped about 1.1% and the Dow barely budged at minus 0.2%. Qualcomm cratered about 10% after phone chip sales missed forecasts, Arm dropped on its own guidance, and data center names like CoreWeave and Nebius shed about 4%. Traders are chewing on the idea that a Democratic Congress means tighter rules on new data centers — UBS strategists figure about 30% of the data center additions expected in 2028 could be affected, according to Reuters.

Rates did bitcoin no favors either. Initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 to 189,000 for the week ended Oct 31, matching the July low and the lowest reading since 1969, while continuing claims rose to 1.718 million. Third-quarter productivity grew 3.6%. Friday's October payrolls are forecast near 65,000 with unemployment at 4.2%, and Brent's bounce toward $96 kept December Fed hike odds in play.

Crypto equities took the harder punch. Strategy traded near $135.28, down 5.1%, and Coinbase sat near $145.95, down 3.7%. The squeeze crowd never showed: the long/short ratio across major exchanges held at 1.73, unchanged from mid-afternoon, open interest stayed near $39.0B and funding lingered at +0.01% per 8 hours.

The technical picture is messy. Bitcoin now sits below the 20-day EMA at $79,944, the 50-day at $80,148 and the old $79,800 floor, according to the report. A daily settle under $79,800 puts the 100-day average at $77,846 back in the crosshairs; reclaiming $79,800 would be the first sign of repair, with $80,148 next.

Next up: tonight's daily close, Friday's payrolls, and Binance's pending 44-token zk proof, due inside a 50-to-60-hour window from the Nov 4 snapshot. Congress still has until Jan 3 to move the CLARITY Act. ETF flows are still running cold — Wednesday's $74.6M bitcoin inflow was led by FBTC at plus $236.7M, but IBIT bled $201.2M, and the five-session tally shows bitcoin ETFs down $1,065.6M and ether ETFs down $433.2M.