Bitcoin plunges under $77K as $560M in leveraged bets blow up in an hour

Bitcoin couldn't hold the highs. After clawing its way to $81,000 earlier, the coin got rejected and then gutted in minutes, sliding under $77,000 and toward $76,000 as US trading hours kicked off. The move came fast, and it came hard.

The wreckage is everywhere. CoinGlass data shows more than $560 million in liquidations over the past hour, with $530 million of that coming from longs who bet on the rally sticking. Across the past day, over 165,000 traders have been wiped out, and the single biggest liquidated order landed on Hyperliquid at $6.62 million.

Altcoins took the same beating, only louder. ETH is down 7% on the day and back below $2,300 after nearly touching $2,500. XRP slipped over 5% to $1.25, HYPE nosedived 10%, DOGE dropped 6.5% and SOL fell 6%.

This wasn't an isolated crypto event. According to The Kobeissi Letter, the S&P 500 erased $2.2 trillion in market value in under an hour — a decline the outlet says is double the size of yesterday's post-election rally. For scale, the entire crypto market is worth about $2.6 trillion.

The broader tape is ugly too. The Kobeissi Letter also flagged that the Nasdaq 100 is roughly 6% away from a bear market, having fallen from above 28,000 to 27,180 since the open — down 13% from its peak a month ago.

It caps a brutal stretch for crypto. Bitcoin had already sunk to a seven-week low of $75,600 Wednesday morning as US midterm results rolled in and Democrats secured a decisive win, then rallied all the way to $81,000 and torched $380 million in shorts before the floor gave out again.