Bitcoin traded near $74,700 on Monday morning, recovering from an overnight slide to $73,477 that marked its lowest level since August, according to Bitcoin Magazine Pro data. The move came as crypto markets absorbed a turbulent stretch of macro, geopolitical and regulatory headlines.

The leading cryptocurrency fell more than 2% to $73,477 in overnight trading before buyers stepped in and pushed the price back above $75,000. The bounce stalled, however, and bitcoin settled near $74,700 heading into the New York open.

Nvidia probe and Iran stall hit weekend trading

Crypto was the only major market open when two headlines landed over the weekend. Nvidia faced an internal investigation into whether CEO Jensen Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence effort, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iranian demands were outrageous as talks stalled.

Nvidia is the bellwether of the AI trade that has carried risk assets all year, and traders treated the news as a threat to the entire complex. More than $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours, with about $913 million of that total coming from longs, turning a modest dip into a sharp flush. Liquidations are forced closures: when a leveraged position can no longer meet its margin requirements, the exchange closes it automatically, adding sell pressure with each unwind.

Equity markets delivered a calmer opening. U.S. index futures attempted a recovery as investors hunted for bargains, with Dow futures up 0.73%, S&P 500 futures up 0.40% and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.21% at 5:10 a.m. ET. Nvidia shares were down 4.5% in premarket trading, Reuters reported, and some chipmakers slipped after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index posted its biggest weekly loss since March 2025.

That divergence mirrors Friday, when bitcoin's reaction to a hot jobs report showed crypto sitting out an equity bounce. It also echoes the tech rout that wiped out leveraged longs last Thursday.

Regulation fears and ETF outflows weigh on bitcoin

The other driver is Washington. Reuters tied the weekend drop to fears that a Democratic-controlled Congress will toughen oversight of the asset class following last week's midterms and the $6 billion Binance heist.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of the loudest crypto critics in the Senate, is tipped to lead the Senate Banking Committee, the panel that oversees banking and securities regulation. TD Cowen has warned that the sweep makes passage of a crypto-backed CLARITY Act — a market-structure bill that would divide digital asset oversight between the SEC and the CFTC — nearly impossible, and House Democrats are already eyeing their own market structure bill with a bigger role for the SEC.

Institutional flows are shifting as well. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs — funds that hold bitcoin directly and trade on traditional stock exchanges — shed $1.28 billion last week, a second straight week of outflows and the worst since late June. Those redemptions help explain why bitcoin never joined the equity rebound.

What the market watches next

October consumer price data due Tuesday is the next test. Economists expect headline inflation to rise 0.3% on the month, cooling from 0.6% in September, and futures imply roughly an 80% chance of a Fed hike at the Dec. 8-9 meeting following the strong October jobs report. Inflation readings are a core input to Fed rate decisions, giving the print significance well beyond crypto.

Options traders are bracing for more movement. One-week implied volatility for bitcoin has jumped to about 43% from about 33% on Thursday, and four of the six most active bitcoin contracts are puts with strikes between $70,000 and $72,000. Puts give holders the right to sell at a set price and are typically bought as downside protection or bearish positioning.

On the chart, bitcoin is wedged between support from its 200-day moving average, a long-term trend line many traders treat as a bull-market boundary, near $73,150 and resistance from its 100-day average near $77,430, levels cited in weekend market analysis. A close below the lower line would put the August lows back in play, while a push toward $77,000 would require a calmer Nvidia story and softer inflation data.

At the time of writing, bitcoin trades near $74,700.

This article first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.