Bitcoin dropped overnight to $68,000, marking its lowest valuation since August and deepening a drop of over 20% since early October amidst a wave of economic pressures affecting the premier cryptocurrency.
Recent market turbulence stemming from the Nvidia scandal, involving the world’s most valuable equity, has dragged down artificial intelligence investments. Meanwhile, persistent inflation and political uncertainty following the U.S. midterm elections have strained the wider financial ecosystem. Nonetheless, a separate development might be driving a larger portion of the current sell-off: Anthropic’s highly anticipated stock market launch.
“In my assessment, this latest pullback can be linked to the opening of Anthropic’s subscription order books—which drew six times the demand of available shares—drawing liquidity out of accessible markets to fund what is shaping up to be by far the biggest initial public offering in history,” noted Seamus Rocca, Chief Executive Officer at Xapo Bank.
Investors scrambling for an allocation in the artificial intelligence enterprise’s IPO, aiming to generate as much as $64.4 billion, are likely liquidating bitcoin and other liquid holdings to raise capital, according to Rocca. He likened the rush for Anthropic stock to the SpaceX IPO earlier in the year, stating that event similarly drained liquidity away from bitcoin as participants shifted capital into the offering.
“Whenever an IPO of this magnitude enters the scene, the temptation of immediate gains is powerful, and liquid instruments such as bitcoin routinely serve as the initial funding source when market participants compete for allotments,” he stated.
Tech stocks and Strategy add to the pressure
Rocca additionally highlighted shifts in technology valuations following Jensen Huang’s unexpected exit from Nvidia, recent cybersecurity breaches, and the possibility of Strategy being excluded from MSCI global indices as elements negatively impacting market sentiment.
Yet, certain analysts perceive no direct correlation connecting Nvidia’s difficulties to bitcoin’s downward trend. Instead, they reference a broader wave of risk reduction across global exchanges.
“There is no direct connection,” stated Mark Connors, chief investment strategist at Risk Dimensions. “The drop in gold demonstrates to me that this is a wholesale de-risking and deleveraging of the artificial intelligence sector.”
Chris Sullivan, co-portfolio manager at Hyperium Decimus, shared this perspective. “There really is no rational link,” he remarked.
Sullivan instead pointed to mounting bearish positions against bitcoin, noting that short open interest has surpassed August peaks, along with substantial capital departures from BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). He also mentioned severe panic within crypto markets and expectations regarding a 50-basis-point interest rate increase within the upcoming 30 days.
The market downturn has similarly affected the precious metals sector alongside digital assets, supporting the perspective among select observers that investors are unloading higher-risk instruments universally rather than reacting exclusively to cryptocurrency-specific catalysts.
“Metals are declining alongside digital assets, which once again feels quite absurd,” Sullivan remarked. “If financial markets were logical, nobody would ever generate or lose wealth.”
Jim Ferraioli, head of digital asset research at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, likewise questioned whether Nvidia was responsible for bitcoin’s drop beyond its broader influence on risk appetite.
He drew attention to reports that MSCI was dropping Strategy from its benchmark indicators as an additional potential catalyst for downward pressure, since that action could compel index-tracking portfolios to liquidate shares of the corporate sector’s largest bitcoin owner.
However, the exact timing of bitcoin’s sharp descent around 11 p.m. Eastern implies neither event necessarily served as the primary trigger, Ferraioli explained.
Even though bitcoin breached the $70,000 threshold, Rocca maintained that the cryptocurrency has held its ground remarkably well considering the volume of negative headlines financial markets have absorbed.
SpaceX IPO offers a possible roadmap for bitcoin’s recovery
Matt Cole, Chief Executive Officer at Strive, identifies parallels between bitcoin’s recent downward slide and its trajectory prior to the $75 billion SpaceX IPO in June.
Cole noted in a post on X that bitcoin retreated 19% across the 50 days leading up to the SpaceX public debut, compared to an 18% decline over the identical timeframe preceding Anthropic’s scheduled listing.
Following the SpaceX IPO, bitcoin experienced further contraction, reaching a bottom 18 days later prior to initiating a rebound. By day 100, it traded 28% higher than its listing day valuation.
“Should Anthropic track a comparable trajectory, the bulk of our correction lies behind us, and valuations could rebound rapidly over the coming couple of months,” Cole observed.
A recurrence of that historical pattern would position bitcoin near $90,000 by late February, based on Cole’s projections.
Still, valid reasons exist to approach this comparison with caution. Bitcoin’s pullback around the SpaceX IPO period also coincided with anxiety surrounding potential bitcoin liquidations by Michael Saylor’s Strategy, complicating efforts to attribute the decline solely to the IPO event.
Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/11/13/bitcoin-slides-to-usd68k-as-nvidia-turmoil-anthropic-ipo-fuel-broader-market-sell-off.
