Bitcoin Liquidates $731M As Elections Trigger Volatility
Key Summary
Bitcoin suffered $731M in total liquidations across two volatile sessions on November 4 and November 5, 2026, as prices briefly surged past $81K before retreating below the True Market Mean of $77.6K. According to on-chain telemetry published by Glassnode, trading volume dropped to its lowest point since 2023. Santiment metrics showed retail sentiment swung violently from extreme FOMO to heavy capitulation, while short-term holder supply expanded by 600,000 tokens since July.
Key Bullets
- Leveraged traders wiped out $731M across consecutive sessions as Bitcoin breached $81K before tumbling back below $77.6K.
- Order-book depth monitored by Glassnode confirmed trading volume dipped to lows not seen since 2023.
- On-chain metrics compiled by Santiment showed retail sentiment flipped instantly from aggressive FOMO to sudden panic.
- Short-term holder supply expanded by 600,000 tokens since July, increasing market sensitivity to abrupt price swings.
Derivatives Wipeout Clears Overleveraged Traders
Bitcoin traders faced severe liquidations on both sides of the order book as spot prices surged and then violently reversed direction. On November 4, 2026, Bitcoin climbed from $75.7K to $81.2K, which triggered $407.92M in derivatives liquidations across major exchanges. Short positions accounted for $309.98M of that total. The swift reversal on November 5 brought another $323.54M in liquidations, including $294.11M in long positions.
Total crypto market capitalization plunged $132.7B during the downturn, bringing total losses since the local peak to $149B. Short-term bullish sentiment following midterm election results was overrun by an equities market pullback. Major AI stocks came under heavy selling pressure concurrently. The liquidations wiped out speculative margin instantly.
Volume Slumps To Multi-Year Lows
In a public post on X, Glassnode observed that crypto traders remain active despite the price retrace from the $87K level. However, Bitcoin volume sat at its lowest level since 2023, tracking below the baseline set before the August rally from $60K began. Volume remained muted afterwards, signaling cooling participation.
Crypto intelligence platform Santiment noted that the trading crowd turned aggressively optimistic following election outcomes on November 4. This unexpected bullish surge was evidenced by the massive amount of short liquidations. Fueled by FOMO, BTC briefly pushed past $81K before traditional equity market selling sparked a total reset. Retail extremes served as reliable counter-signals once again.
True Market Mean Breached Downward
Crypto analyst Axel Adler Jr. reported that short liquidations reached the highest levels recorded since late September. Meanwhile, the ongoing fallout from the Binance heist continued to weigh heavily on market sentiment. Since July, short-term holder BTC supply expanded by 600,000 tokens. Coins changed hands from long-term investors to newer market participants, amplifying price sensitivity.
The True Market Mean sat at $77.6K, and the brief foray above this threshold failed to hold. The metric measures the average cost basis of active investors while filtering out dormant or lost coins. A price drop below the True Market Mean signaled cooling conditions and left average short-term investors nursing unrealized losses. The market faced an immediate test of lower support zones.
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