Jensen Huang Resigns from Nvidia as Crypto Markets Drop Below $70,000

Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang resigned as president, CEO, and board member on Thursday morning, triggering a sharp decline across technology equities and digital assets ¹. The executive departure followed reporting by The New York Times concerning relationships with an executive at an overseas chip buyer facing US export-control scrutiny and an internal direct report, which had prompted an internal board investigation and planned congressional subpoenas ¹. Nvidia provided no official reason for Huang's immediate exit ¹.

Nvidia named Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO while retaining her finance responsibilities, and appointed Harvey Jones as its first board chair while initiating an executive search ¹. Nvidia shares fell as much as 14% before finishing down roughly 4%, compounding losses in a month where the semiconductor company has erased more than $1 trillion in market value ¹. Tech founders criticized the board's decision, with former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao calling the move to let Huang resign "a mistake" ¹.

Crypto Follows Tech Decline

Digital asset markets sold off alongside the semiconductor rout ¹. $BTC fell roughly 4% to reach a 12-week low near $68,000, continuing a downward trajectory from above $76,000 recorded earlier in the week ¹, as Bitcoin slides toward lower support levels. $ETH fell about 3% to trade below $2,000, while $SOL, $BNB, and $XRP registered declines between 3% and 5% ¹. At the time of writing, Bitcoin traded at $69,149, down 4.6% over 24 hours, amid extreme fear across broader market sentiment.

The downturn unfolded as digital asset markets continued to navigate the fallout from a $6.34 billion security incident at Binance on Oct. 29 ¹. The US Department of Justice secured court approval to seize over $1.2 billion in assets linked to the theft, contributing to $2.7 billion frozen to date ¹. Binance published an off-cycle proof-of-reserves snapshot dated Nov. 12, reporting it completed coverage of the 44 affected digital assets ¹. Nvidia is scheduled to report fiscal third-quarter financial results on Tuesday, presenting the next major corporate test for tech and crypto risk sentiment ¹.