Bitcoin fell below $72,000 on Thursday morning, its lowest level since mid-August, after Nvidia announced that Jensen Huang had resigned as chief executive.

Huang steps down at Nvidia

Nvidia’s board said Huang resigned as president, CEO and a member of the board, effective immediately.

Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent successor, and Harvey C. Jones was appointed the company’s first-ever board chair.

Jones said in the announcement:

“The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team, and we expect the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption.”

“The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team, and we expect the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption.”

Kress pledged to build on Huang’s legacy, saying:

“NVIDIA’s strength has always come from its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.”

“NVIDIA’s strength has always come from its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.”

The resignation followed reports of extramarital relationships, including one that raised national security concerns in Washington.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, had told CNBC that Huang should step down, saying he was:

“so vulnerable to extortion, blackmail.”

“so vulnerable to extortion, blackmail.”

Tech selloff drags bitcoin lower

Nvidia shares fell as much as 14% on Thursday, hitting a low of $148.80, while Nasdaq 100 futures slid about 1.4%.

Shares of bitcoin miners that have expanded into AI data centers, including Cipher Digital, IREN and TeraWulf, dropped 5% to 10%.

Bitcoin had already slipped from about $74,700 after Wednesday’s close, and it traded as low as about $71,670 around 9:29 a.m. ET, while CryptoSlate data showed it dipping below $71,500.

The selling deepened after Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack called for a more restrictive policy from the U.S. central bank.

Strategy and ETFs add pressure

Strategy fell about 7% at the open after MSCI confirmed it will remove the stock from its indexes at the Nov. 30 close, with Metaplanet also slated for removal.

Meanwhile, spot bitcoin ETFs lost $299.8 million on Wednesday, their fifth straight day of net outflows, bringing the five-day total to about $1.44 billion.

BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for $269.7 million of Wednesday’s redemptions, marking its ninth straight session of outflows.