Bitcoin’s latest rebound attempt stalled near $75,000, leaving the market on the defensive as meme coin PEPE suffered a double-digit decline. According to a CoinMarketCap snapshot, BTC traded at $72,981.89, below the level reached during Wednesday’s recovery, keeping short-term momentum fragile near the lower end of its recent range.
The move followed a volatile trading stretch. Bitcoin initially fell after the U.S. midterm elections, rebounded sharply to $81,000, then reversed again. The asset later printed a multi-month low near $72,800, recovered toward $74,800 on Wednesday, and was rejected around $75,000 after another unstable session. Repeated failed recovery attempts have reinforced weak momentum.
Institutional outflows added pressure. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs lost $299.9 million on Wednesday, marking a fifth consecutive day of net outflows and bringing total withdrawals since November 5 to about $1.44 billion. BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for $269.7 million of the latest daily outflow and extended its redemption streak to nine sessions.
Derivatives activity also cooled. Across crypto futures, 24-hour trading volume fell 20.64% to $168.6 billion, while open interest declined 2.92% to $125.8 billion. Liquidations dropped 63.67% to $263.7 million, with long positions representing 64.5% of the total. Bitcoin futures volume fell 27.6%, open interest dropped 2.9%, and BTC logged $62.9 million in liquidations while funding remained moderately positive.
PEPE absorbed the sharpest altcoin damage, falling 12% in one market snapshot to trade near $0.000004432. Most major altcoins were also in the red, though losses varied. With the altcoin season index at 39 and the fear and greed index at 26, broader crypto market sentiment remained firmly defensive.
