Bitcoin tumbles below $69,000 as Nvidia turmoil adds to Fed-driven market jitters

Bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC) and other major cryptocurrencies continued to fall during Asian morning trading as the fallout from Nvidia cofounder Jensen Huang's exit and expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike weighed on market sentiment.

The world's largest cryptocurrency plunged 7% over the past 24 hours to $68,408 as of 12:10 a.m. ET Friday, its lowest level since Aug. 20, according to The Block's bitcoin price page. EtherEthereum (ETH) dropped 6% to trade at $1,921. BNB slid 6.3%, while XRP lost 3.5%.

Crypto liquidations totaled $1.47 billion over the past 24 hours, with 175,299 traders liquidated, according to CoinGlass data. Long positions accounted for $1.31 billion of the total. Notably, liquidations totaled $798 million over the past four hours, including $718.5 million in long positions.

"The sharp leg lower in crypto looks like a leverage event as BTC broke key levels," said Rick Maeda, head of markets at Laevitas. "BTC had already lost $72,000 in the U.S. session, and once it broke $70,000 late morning in Asia, the long positions clustered below that level were forced out quickly, with more than $600 million in four hours and over $1.3 billion in the past day."

Price Performance (The Block)

Nvidia fallout, Fed rate hike fears

The market downturn came as traders continued to assess the fallout from Nvidia's leadership shake-upamid expectations of another Fed interest rate hike, analysts said.

On Thursday morning, Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia CEO after the company launched an investigation last weekend into his relationship with a suspected Chinese spy. There had been reports that said Huang engaged in extramarital relationships with an Nvidia executive who reports directly to him and a second Nvidia employee.

"Traders trying to catch a reversal from the Nvidia-driven risk-off, combined with thin bids after this week's CPI, have both played a role in the liquidations," said Maeda.

Meanwhile, BTSE COO Jeff Mei told The Block that bitcoin also fell on assumptions that the Fed would raise rates in December to combat inflation. Mei said traders are watching out for signals of a potential 50-basis-point rate hike, which "hinges on how inflation and unemployment data will trend, as well as oil prices and geopolitical developments in the Middle East."