Nvidia-led tech selloff weighs on crypto majors
Major cryptocurrencies came under renewed pressure on Monday, 9 November 2026, as a selloff in technology and artificial-intelligence stocks reinforced a broader risk-off mood across financial markets. Bitcoin and ether were among the assets caught in the downdraft, extending losses after crypto markets had already absorbed a sharp equities rout in the preceding sessions.
The immediate focus of the market’s anxiety was Nvidia, the leading AI-chip company and the world’s largest company by market value. Its shares were down more than 4% in premarket trading. According to CoinDesk, the decline followed reports that Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang had acknowledged an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, prompting the company to open an investigation. The development delivered a company-specific shock on top of existing concerns about excessive valuations and the sustainability of the massive investment flows that have poured into AI infrastructure over the past two years.
For crypto investors, the Nvidia story matters far beyond one company’s share price. Digital assets are increasingly traded as high-risk, growth-sensitive investments alongside technology stocks, and the correlation between the two asset classes has tightened markedly. When the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.5% and the S&P 500 fell 4.3% earlier in the selloff, the resulting retreat from risk assets spilled directly into bitcoin, ether and crypto-linked equities.
Leverage magnifies the damage
The mechanics of the selloff were made worse by the amount of borrowed money sitting in the system. More than $1 billion in crypto derivatives positions were liquidated within 24 hours during the broader rout, according to market tallies. One CoinGlass count put the figure at roughly $1.12 billion in long positions alone, meaning trades that had bet on higher prices were forcibly closed as prices fell.
Bitcoin briefly fell below $76,000, while ether declined more sharply, losing about 7.3% over the comparable period. The pattern is a familiar one to anyone who has traded through previous crypto drawdowns: a decline initially driven by stock-market sentiment triggers forced selling in the derivatives market, which deepens price losses and spreads quickly across tokens, miners and publicly traded digital-asset companies.
Crypto-related equities were hit hard in a related session. Strategy, Coinbase, Circle and Bitmine Immersion Technologies each fell more than 10%, illustrating how the selloff moved seamlessly between tokens and the listed companies whose fortunes are tied to them. For a deeper look at how digital assets trade in tandem with broader risk appetite, see our Bitcoin coverage.
Political overtones add to the pressure
Analysts also pointed to a political dimension behind the weakness. Concerns that Democratic control of both chambers of the U.S. Congress could slow AI data-centre construction have weighed on one of the most important investment narratives in the digital-asset sector. Bitcoin miners and related infrastructure companies have increasingly positioned themselves as suppliers of power and computing capacity for AI workloads, and any slowdown in data-centre buildout weakens that story.
The combination is an uncomfortable one for the sector. Crypto’s institutional adoption over recent years has brought it closer to the rhythms of traditional finance, and with that closeness comes exposure to the same shocks. A governance crisis at the world’s most valuable company, a valuation reset in AI stocks and a potential shift in Washington’s posture towards data-centre investment have all converged at once, and crypto has absorbed each blow in sequence.
The episode also underscores the danger of leverage in a market that remains structurally fragile despite its growth. The $1.12 billion in liquidated long positions represents traders who were positioned for continuation, not correction. When the correction arrived, their forced selling amplified the move, pushing prices lower than the underlying selling pressure alone would have justified.
What it means for the market
For traders and investors, the immediate question is whether the correlation with technology equities breaks or persists. The Nvidia investigation is a company-specific event, but the concerns it has crystallised, about valuation excess and the durability of AI capital expenditure, are sector-wide. As long as those concerns dominate equity market sentiment, crypto majors are likely to trade as high-beta proxies for the technology trade rather than as an independent store of value.
The regulatory picture adds another layer. The prospect of a Congress inclined to scrutinise AI infrastructure spending introduces policy risk into a sector that bitcoin miners have come to depend on for revenue diversification. Companies that pivoted towards AI hosting now face the possibility that the demand underpinning those pivots may grow more slowly than planned.
The bottom line
Monday’s action is a reminder that crypto’s integration into mainstream finance cuts both ways. Institutional flows have deepened liquidity and broadened the investor base, but they have also tied the market’s fortunes to the sentiment cycles of technology equities. In a leveraged market, that linkage turns equity volatility into crypto volatility with remarkable speed, as the billion-dollar liquidation tally demonstrates. Until the Nvidia situation clarifies and the AI investment narrative stabilises, traders should expect digital assets to remain hostage to developments that, on the surface, have nothing to do with blockchain at all.
