Crypto News | Bitcoin Slips to $74,860 and Ether Falls 5.9% as Nvidia-Led Tech Selloff Triggers $1.16 Billion in Liquidations

Only five of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market value were up 1% or more over the past 24 hours on Monday, November 9, as a selloff in tech stocks led by Nvidia weighed on crypto. Bitcoin slipped to about $74,860 and ether fell 5.9% to around $2,125. XRP and solana also fell.The five gainers were ARB, RNDR, PEPE, QNT and GT.Nvidia Leads the Tech SelloffNvidia, the world’s largest company by market value and the leading AI stock, fell more than 4% in pre-market trading. Nvidia’s board has opened an investigation after reports about CEO Jensen Huang’s relationship with a suspected Chinese spy.On Binance, trading volume in NVDA perpetual futures jumped more than 200% to over $500 million as traders reacted to the news.$1.16 Billion in LiquidationsCrypto futures trading volume surged more than 200% to $180 billion in 24 hours as markets returned from the weekend lull. Open interest fell 3% to about $127 billion, a sign that traders closed positions and money left the market. Liquidations reached $1.16 billion, and market orders leaned to selling, at 51.5%.Ether Hit Harder Than BitcoinEther accounted for about $500 million of the liquidations, mostly long positions, even though its open interest is about half the size of bitcoin’s. ETH open interest fell 6.7% on a 5.9% price drop, and funding rates turned negative, meaning short sellers are now paying longs. Ether closed Sunday below its 200-day moving average for the first time since August 18.Bitcoin held up better. Its open interest fell just 0.2% on a 2.2% price drop, so most positions stayed open. BTC liquidations were $305 million. Funding is still positive but lower than on Thursday.ZEC and XRP also saw money leave. ZEC open interest fell 9.7% on a 4.5% price drop, and XRP’s fell 9.2%.Traders Buy Downside ProtectionOptions traders are bracing for bigger moves. Bitcoin’s one-week implied volatility rose to about 43% from about 33% on Thursday, and ether’s rose to about 60% from about 46%. One-week skew, the extra premium paid for puts over calls, stands at about 13% for bitcoin and about 15% for ether, showing renewed demand for protection against further drops.Four of bitcoin’s six most active options contracts are puts with strike prices between $70,000 and $72,000. Ether’s most active contract is a December put at $1,900.Payments Tokens Lead Losses; ARB Bucks the TrendPayments tokens: down more than 5% as a groupDeFi tokens: down 3.5%Memecoins: down 2.35%Layer-2 tokens: down just 0.12%XRP was among the worst performers, down 7.3%. Arbitrum (ARB) went the other way, rising more than 5% as onchain activity around real-world assets continues to grow.