Bitcoin Falls 5% Below $76K as Democratic Midterm Wins Sink AI Stocks

Bitcoin just took a hard punch. The coin dropped 5% from $80K to below $76K, according to CoinDesk, as a wave of selling tore through crypto and equities at the same time. More than $370M in long liquidations hit in under an hour — a brutal flush for anyone who bet on higher prices.

The trigger came from the ballot box. Democratic midterm wins lit a fire under AI-focused stocks, which collapsed and dragged the broader market down with them. The Nasdaq tumbled 3.9% as the selloff spread.

Lurking underneath the chaos: growing worry about data center restrictions. AI names have ridden a massive buildout of computing infrastructure, and any hint that policy could slow that pipeline spooks the same investors who have been piling into the trade.

Leveraged longs were the first casualties. Over $370M got wiped out fast, forcing more selling as positions unwound, and bitcoin's slide below $76K marked a sharp reversal from the $80K level it held before the news hit.

Now traders are watching two things: whether the AI selloff keeps bleeding into crypto, and whether talk of data center limits turns into actual policy. For a market that had been leaning bullish, the last hour was a violent reminder of how fast sentiment can flip.