Global Economic — 2026-11-06

US Stocks and Crypto Plunge After Democratic Midterm Sweep, Triggering Over One Billion Dollars in Liquidations

BLUFWednesday's crypto rally lacked spot demand and left leveraged longs exposed to Thursday's equity-led selloff, making the next directional move dependent on macro catalysts through mid-December.

Bitcoin fell to roughly $75,700 on Thursday, down almost 6%, while Ether dropped 7.29% on Binance data, per Blockonomi 1. TokenPost reported a Bitstamp low of $75,463, the lowest since September 16, after Bitcoin reached $80,500 Wednesday following Democratic wins in both chambers of Congress 2. Decrypt reported the Nasdaq nearly 4% lower and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down about 8% on concerns over AI spending and Democratic oversight of data centers 3. Liquidation figures vary by window: CoinGlass data showed $1.03 billion over 24 hours, per Blockonomi 1, while Altcoin Buzz put longs at $954.38 million of the total 4, and Decrypt cited $428 million in longs in one hour 3.

Analysis
Thursday's selloff was an equity-led deleveraging that crypto absorbed, not a crypto-specific repricing of the Democratic sweep. Wednesday's rally rested on short covering with little new spot demand, leaving longs exposed once Nasdaq and semiconductor losses hit. Longs made up most forced closures in every report, but liquidation totals vary by window and exchange feed, and the crypto trade press largely echoes the same CoinGlass data, so no single dollar figure is reliable. Markets may instead be genuinely repricing AI-sector risk from Democratic data-center oversight, with crypto falling as a high-beta proxy. Friday's jobs report, October CPI on November 10 and the Fed's December 9 decision are the next catalysts, and a close back above $80,000 would signal the squeeze has resumed. Confidence is low: four outlets give conflicting price, index and liquidation figures, and nothing independently confirms the cause.

4 sources