NEW YORK, United States / CryptoWire.AI / – Bitcoin dropped below $70,000 on Friday, November 13, for the first time since mid-August, as rising Federal Reserve rate hike bets and an index decision against Strategy hit sentiment. The cryptocurrency was last down 4.7% at $68,099.30 at 18:03 ET, Investing.com data showed. It had fallen 10.2% for the week, putting it on track for its worst weekly performance since the start of June.
Earlier, Bitcoin slid to $67,770, its lowest since August 19, while Ether touched $1,900. About $1.64 billion of leveraged positions were wiped out over 24 hours, with long positions accounting for most of the losses, CoinGlass data showed. Bitcoin futures alone saw $916 million in liquidations. The dollar index rose above 103, its highest since April 2025, adding pressure on dollar-denominated assets such as Bitcoin.
Crypto markets were already reeling from last week’s midterm elections, which handed Democrats control of Congress and raised concerns about regulatory setbacks. A string of strong data then lifted rate hike expectations. Employers added 165,000 jobs in October, well above the 65,000 forecast. August and September payrolls were also revised up by a combined 84,000. October consumer prices rose 0.4%, ahead of the 0.3% forecast, while core prices climbed 0.3% against expectations of 0.2%.
Fed seen hiking in December
Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Tuesday that he supported a rate rise even if inflation data had been cooler, and that a 50 basis point hike should be considered. CME FedWatch shows traders treating a December hike as a near certainty. The probability of a quarter-point move is close to 90%, while a half-point increase is priced at about 10%. Higher rates tend to weigh on cryptocurrencies and other speculative assets.
Producer price data on Friday provided some relief. The producer price index rose 0.3% in October, below the 0.4% expected and well down from 1.4% in September. The annual rate reached 6.5%, the highest since November 2022 but slightly below forecasts of 6.6%. Chris Zaccarelli of Northlight Asset Management said the report was unlikely to change the Fed’s approach in December. Meanwhile, U.S. spot Bitcoin funds have recorded six straight days of net outflows, according to Farside Investors data, cutting a key source of demand.
Strategy faces MSCI index exit
MSCI confirmed that Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, will be deleted from its MSCI USA Index after the November 30 close. Japan’s Metaplanet and Upexi were also marked for deletion. The move does not create immediate selling pressure on Bitcoin. However, it may limit Strategy’s access to new capital, its main source of funding for Bitcoin purchases. JPMorgan had estimated in October that an exit could trigger about $2.8 billion in selling.
Strategy said MSCI-linked funds hold about 13 million shares, or 3.1% of its stock, and called the treatment of digital asset treasuries discriminatory. Altcoins also faced heavy losses. Ether was down 13.9% for the week, XRP 14.5% and Solana 13.2%, according to Investing.com. BNB fell 9.2% as Binance continued to feel the effects of its $6.3 billion hack in late October. Dogecoin dropped 11.4% over the week.