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Bitcoin Drops Below $77,000 as Chip Selloff and Midterm Risk Weigh on Markets
Bitcoin fell back below $77,000 on Tuesday, wiping out the Monday rebound, as a deepening selloff in U.S. semiconductor stocks spread into global equities and traders awaited the first U.S. midterm results. The token dropped about 2% to just under $77,000 in Asian trading, according to CoinGecko pricing, below the roughly $77,600 level reached late Sunday. The move was not specific to crypto. A gauge of U.S. chipmakers has fallen 12% over three sessions, pulling the Nasdaq 100 about 10% below its peak, the threshold for a technical correction, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.5%. Bitcoin has traded as a high-beta risk asset through the macro swings this year and followed the equity weakness rather than any digital-asset news. The selloff comes in an unusually crowded week. Apple and Palantir reported earnings on November 2, voters go to the polls for the U.S. midterms on November 3, and the October jobs report follows on November 6. Each event carries a risk read for crypto: earnings shape the AI-and-chips trade that has dominated equities, the midterms carry the fate of crypto legislation including the CLARITY Act, and the jobs report feeds the Federal Reserve December rate calculus. Market commentary has flagged one midterm fear: a Democratic majority could stall crypto market legislation because the party has previously demanded stronger ethics provisions in the CLARITY Act. That is a political risk being priced alongside the equity rout, not a confirmed policy outcome. Bitcoin has held above its 100-day moving average, which stood at roughly $76,463 as of November 1, according to market data cited by Traders Union. That level and the $77,000 round number are the lines traders are watching. A sustained close below the moving average would be the first in months; a hold keeps Bitcoin inside the range it has traded since slipping from $80,000. Ether traded near $2,250, down about 1.7%, and most major altcoins were lower in line with the broader risk-off tone. XRP from Ripple outperformed, down less than 1%. The chip rout matters for digital assets in two ways. It is the direct driver of the equity weakness Bitcoin has mirrored; when the AI-and-chips trade unwinds, the risk budget that supported crypto correlation to tech equities shrinks. The chip rout is also tied to the same AI-adjacent theme that has helped tokenization of compute and AI-related crypto narratives, so a sustained equity correction there would remove a sentiment prop. None of this changes the Bitcoin supply-and-demand setup, which analysts describe as tightening. Exchange outflows point to a supply squeeze ahead of the post-election period, a signal that long-term holders are moving coins off venues even as short-term price action wobbles. The immediate markers are midterm results as they arrive, closing levels in the chipmakers index, and whether Bitcoin holds $76,463 through the week. A close back above $77,600 would suggest the dip was a leveraged flush rather than a change in trend. A decisive break of the 100-day moving average would open the next leg lower. As with any risk-off episode, the distinction matters: the move so far is best read as positioning ahead of a dense catalyst calendar, a chip rout and an election, rather than a confirmed deterioration in Bitcoin fundamentals. This article is not intended as financial advice. Educational purposes only.
