Bitcoin Drops Below $76,000: Texas Data Center Moratorium Fears Sink Miners Pivoting to AI

Bitcoin fell below $76,000 on Thursday as a technology rout erased the post-election rally that followed Tuesday's midterm elections, and bitcoin miners that have pivoted into AI data centers were among the hardest hit. Bitdeer and Keel Infrastructure each fell about 20%, and American Bitcoin dropped 17% even after it reported a $126 million quarterly profit. For anyone holding bitcoin, crypto stocks or a tech-heavy retirement fund, the question is whether Thursday priced in a real policy threat or a distant one.

Bets on Rising Prices Were 93% of $880 Million Liquidated in Four Hours

About $879.92 million in positions were liquidated over a four-hour window on Thursday, including $818.90 million in longs (bets that prices will rise) and $61.02 million in shorts (bets that prices will fall), according to CoinGlass data. Over 24 hours, total liquidations reached nearly $1.1 billion, affecting nearly 211,000 traders, The Block reported. The Block also noted that public liquidation data can understate the true total, and tallies differ by data provider and time window.

Bitcoin fell about 6% to roughly $75,700, with an intraday low near $75,568, while ether dropped more than 7% to about $2,247. The long-heavy damage is a mechanical story. Exchanges automatically close underfunded longs as prices fall, and each forced sale pushes prices lower.

Wednesday's jump above $80,000 had been fueled partly by short covering, which means traders closing losing bets against bitcoin. About $378 million in short positions were liquidated in a single hour as bitcoin pushed past that level, according to Decrypt. On Thursday, roughly $428 million in longs were liquidated within an hour as the reversal hit.

Nasdaq Composite Posts Deepest Drop in 19 Months After Democratic Sweep

The Nasdaq Composite fell roughly 5.5% to about 24,315, deepest one-day drop in 19 months and its largest since the April 2025 "Liberation Day" tariff announcement, according to Reuters. The index confirmed a technical correction, a 10% decline from its October 6 record close. The S&P 500 lost about 4.4% and the Dow fell about 3.4%, and the selloff erased roughly $3 trillion in value from S&P 500 companies. Nvidia dropped more than 9%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell more than 12%.

Democrats won control of both chambers on Tuesday, taking 54 Senate seats with two races still uncalled. Investors reacted to a signal from voters: opposition to AI data centers, which many people worry will consume water and energy, helped drive Democratic wins in several states, NPR reported.

Texas matters most to the market. Democrat Gina Hinojosa unseated Gov. Greg Abbott after pledging to halt all data center approvals until the legislature passes new protections, and Wells Fargo estimates that 27% of planned capacity in the US sits in the state.

David Busch, chief investment officer of Trajan Wealth, told NPR that investors fear far more AI regulation and pushback on the data center buildout. The Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, surged about 60% by 2 p.m. ET, and CryptoTicker, citing Yahoo Finance, reported a 65% jump to as high as 27.45.

Why Does Bitcoin Fall When Nasdaq Falls? Miners Became AI Landlords

Bitcoin has traded alongside the AI-heavy tech complex for most of this year, and miners are a direct link. Many have sold coins to fund AI data center buildouts, CryptoTicker reported, citing Bitcoin Magazine, which ties their share prices to both bitcoin and AI construction policy. That helps explain why fears about data center limits in Texas weighed on miners in Thursday's session.

On Wednesday, Bernstein cut seven miners' price targets by as much as 54%, citing tighter financing markets and uncertainty over Texas, according to CoinDesk. Bernstein's Gautam Chhugani said more than half of the power capacity held or planned by the miners-turned-AI developers his firm covers is in Texas. UBS analysts estimated that about 30% of expected capacity additions in the US in 2028 could be at risk from construction pauses, according to Decrypt, citing Reuters.

Correlation is not causation. Stocks and crypto falling together does not prove that one drove the other, and leverage played its own role. Wintermute's Jasper De Maere argued that the factors behind Wednesday's rally, including relief after the Binance hack, election enthusiasm and falling oil prices, "seemed to be so short-lived that it actually didn't really matter," and he pointed to Middle East escalation and elevated inflation as unresolved pressures.

Moratorium Bill Has 22 Backers and Labor Pushback; Texas Is the Nearer Risk

The national data center moratorium that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., introduced in March would halt even work already underway, and an explainer reported that only 22 members of Congress have signed on. Sanders has no Senate cosponsors, while Ocasio-Cortez has 20 House Democratic cosponsors, according to the same explainer. Sanders called for a "national data center moratorium now" after the election. The proposal has drawn pushback from moderate Democrats and from organized labor, including building trades unions that support data center construction jobs.

Before the election, Reuters reported that analysts were dubious about national legislation that would significantly stall data center construction, with one strategist saying Trump would likely block such a bill. That gap between a distant legislative path and a one-day, trillion-dollar repricing is the story's central tension. The faster channel is a state capital, not Washington. Goldman Sachs economists expect Democrats in Texas, Georgia and Michigan to impose temporary pauses on new data centers, though they do not expect the restrictions to last long.

The nearer threat is in Austin. Hinojosa has promised a moratorium on all data center approvals until the Legislature passes new rules, and she takes office January 19 working with a Democrat-dominated Texas House. Abbott had already paused grid connections and environmental permitting for data centers while regulators run an audit, so a pause is not a new idea in the state. Data Center Watch found that 43% of the 74 gubernatorial candidates it studied across 36 states backed a moratorium or ban.

Sanders has a longer record on AI than on data centers. A Senate HELP Committee minority report his office released in October 2025 projected nearly 100 million jobs could be eliminated by AI and automation over a decade, and it proposed a "robot tax" on companies that replace workers and a 32-hour workweek. Hinojosa will hold executive power in a state with a large share of planned capacity, while the Sanders bill still needs votes it does not have.

Ordinary investors are exposed as well. NPR noted that average Americans own AI companies through 401(k) accounts and pensions, which leaves them vulnerable to a prolonged rout.

Binance Hack and Leverage Left Bitcoin Fragile Before Thursday

The market was already weakened. Decrypt reported that crypto had lost roughly $300 billion in value over the previous month amid AI-spending concerns, rising borrowing costs and last week's multibillion-dollar Binance hack. On October 29, attackers took about $6.3 billion from Binance wallets, the largest crypto theft on record, and the FBI attributed the theft to North Korea. Binance said it would cover the losses and began resuming withdrawals in phases on November 1.

Levels Wintermute Watches: $73,000 and $68,000

If the weakness continues, Wintermute identified $73,000 and $68,000 as the next levels to watch, and said bitcoin would need to reclaim and hold $80,000 convincingly before the firm turns more positive. Analysts also note that the midterm results complicate the outlook for crypto legislation. Wincent's Paul Howard expects the existing regulatory framework to largely remain intact until the next election cycle, given the uncertain prospects of the Clarity Act. Three dates matter next: the US jobs report on Friday, inflation data on November 10 and the Federal Reserve decision on December 9. Reuters reported that traders expect a Fed hike next month.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Crypto derivatives are highly volatile, and liquidation figures vary by data provider and time window.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did bitcoin fall when the Nasdaq dropped on Thursday?

Bitcoin has tracked AI-heavy tech stocks for most of this year, and many miners have shifted into AI data centers, so a selloff aimed at AI infrastructure reached crypto directly. Forced liquidations of leveraged longs then amplified the move.

Is a data center moratorium actually coming?

A federal one looks distant: the Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez bill had 22 congressional backers as of an explainer published this week and has drawn opposition from building trades unions and some moderate Democrats. A Texas pause is more plausible, since Hinojosa has pledged one when she takes office January 19 and Abbott's administration already paused some approvals.

What are forced liquidations, and why do they hit longs so hard?

A liquidation happens when an exchange automatically closes underfunded positions because the trader's collateral no longer covers losses. When prices fall, long positions are the ones closed, which adds selling pressure. Liquidation totals vary by data provider and time window, and public data can understate the true figure.

Does this selloff affect retirement savings?

It can. NPR noted that average Americans own AI companies through 401(k) accounts and pension funds, which makes them vulnerable if the rout continues. It is unclear whether it will.