Bitcoin fell below $70,000 early Friday, hitting its lowest level since Aug. 19 as U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs slipped into net outflows for the year.

ETF flows turn negative

U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs are now in the red for 2026, with $1.56 billion in net outflows, according to SoSoValue data analyzed by CoinDesk.

The funds were still up about $1.01 billion for the year on Oct. 29, before $643.3 million left on Oct. 30 alone.

They lost another $643.6 million this week through Thursday, after shedding $1.28 billion the week before.

That made it the 12th week this year with net outflows of more than $500 million, compared with 15 such weeks in all of 2025.

Sentiment slides into extreme fear

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropped to 20 on Nov. 13, moving into “Extreme Fear” from a reading of 28 a day earlier.

Crypto futures bets worth more than $1.3 billion were liquidated over 24 hours, with bitcoin accounting for $677 million, according to Coinglass.

Prateek Gupta, head of business at Mudrex, said bitcoin had fallen below its 200-day moving average near $73,100.

Thin liquidity meets high leverage

In its weekly report, institutional trading platform Talos said bitcoin’s 1% order-book depth across Binance, Kraken and Coinbase dropped to $72 million on Nov. 9, about 33% below normal.

At the same time, bitcoin perpetuals open interest sat close to its highs near 463K BTC, rising even as the price fell.

Talos senior research associate Tanay Ved wrote in the report:

“Liquidity remains thin while leverage stays elevated, leaving the market vulnerable to sharp moves in either direction. A rebuild in order-book depth and a turn in capital flows would provide a firmer foundation for recovery.”

“Liquidity remains thin while leverage stays elevated, leaving the market vulnerable to sharp moves in either direction. A rebuild in order-book depth and a turn in capital flows would provide a firmer foundation for recovery.”

Rate hike bets and Strategy

Markets were pricing in a 25 to 50 basis point Fed hike in December after hotter-than-expected October inflation data, according to CME FedWatch, while the Dollar Index traded above 103, its highest since April 2025.

MSCI also said Strategy and similar bitcoin treasury companies will be excluded from its benchmark indexes effective Nov. 30, a move Investing.com said limits the firm’s ability to raise new capital.