Huang stepped down from his positions as the company’s chief executive officer, president, and board member with immediate effect, while MSCI announced plans to drop bitcoin treasury firm Strategy from its benchmarks on November 30.
Bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC) slumped to a nearly 12-week bottom on Thursday, dropping as far as $71,200, as financial markets reacted to the sudden exit of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang alongside persistent worries regarding possible liquidation pressure resulting from MSCI index exclusions.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin had fallen 3.4% to $71,600. Additional leading digital currencies, such as Ethereum, Solana, and XRP, likewise dropped by over 3.5% across the preceding 24 hours.
Data from CoinGlass shows that upward of $750 million worth of cryptocurrency positions were wiped out in the past day, which included greater than $634 million in long positions.
Jasper De Maere, an over-the-counter trader at Wintermute, stated on Thursday morning, “We remain cautious on BTC as it tests $73k, the level we flagged as first potential support, with no convincing signs of size stepping in at these prices.” He added, “Some bluechip names are seeing activity, but without large buyers the majors need ETF flows to carry them. That changes if flows turn structurally positive for several days in a row.”
Meanwhile, MSCI confirmed that Strategy will be excluded from its indices on November 30, generating concerns regarding potential sell-offs for the bitcoin proxy. Wintermute characterized the development as “a passive-selling risk on a BTC proxy where we have no size estimate.”
Jensen Huang Steps Down as CEO of Nvidia
Tensions surrounding Nvidia’s executive leadership had mounted throughout the preceding week. Over the previous weekend, the enterprise initiated an inquiry concerning Huang following allegations that he became the “target of a foreign intelligence effort” amid an alleged romantic relationship with a Chinese spy. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Huang was also engaged in an affair with an employee who reported directly to him.
On Thursday morning, Huang departed from his roles as president, chief executive, and board member, taking effect immediately. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress was named interim CEO while the board conducts a search for a permanent replacement. Having joined Nvidia in 2013, Kress will continue performing her CFO duties during the transition period.
U.S. President Donald Trump also offered his perspective, suggesting that former Apple CEO Tim Cook ought to take charge of the artificial intelligence chip manufacturer. Writing on Truth Social, Trump noted, “[T]here is only one man to take his place. A Legend replaces a Legend!”
Nvidia stock opened Thursday lower by 12%, deepening its downward trend for the month. Meanwhile, perpetual futures for Nvidia traded on Hyperliquid recorded a 24-hour trading volume of $2.34 billion.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong remarked during a CNBC appearance as the resignation news broke, “I have a lot of respect for Jensen; he’s built an incredible company. It’s sad to see and hopefully he gets a moment to reflect on [his decisions].”
Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/markets/2026-11-12-bitcoin-12-week-low-jensen-huang-exit-nvidia-438992.
