Bitcoin Falls Below $60,000 After Worst Weekly Drop Since 2022

Bitcoin fell below $60,000 after a 17.3% decline in the week ending June 6. The drop erased roughly $390 billion from total crypto market value and led to nearly $7 billion in liquidations of leveraged positions.

Ether fell about 22% over the same seven-day period, the largest weekly decline for both tokens since November 2022. Forced selling in derivatives markets accelerated losses as margin calls produced further liquidations.

Investors redeemed about $5.5 billion from U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds across 13 consecutive days of outflows. Fund managers recorded a large weekly outflow that market participants linked to a sizable institutional sale earlier in the week, reducing a major source of demand.

Market participants cited macroeconomic and geopolitical factors as additional drivers. Strong U.S. jobs data reduced expectations for near-term Federal Reserve rate cuts and led some traders to price in the possibility of higher rates. Ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran contributed to increased risk aversion.

Capital also rotated into artificial intelligence-focused stocks and data-center companies, where investors saw nearer-term catalysts.

Analysts are divided on the outlook. Some view the rapid unwinding of leverage and intense selling as a form of capitulation that can precede a local market bottom. Others point to structural weaknesses, including thin trading liquidity, continued ETF redemptions and competition for risk capital, that could expose bitcoin to further declines.

More than half of bitcoin addresses are currently holding at a loss, a condition that has preceded previous market bottoms. Several trading indicators, however, have not yet reached levels associated with maximum capitulation in past cycles.

Traders and institutions will monitor incoming economic data, flows into spot bitcoin ETFs and volatility in derivatives markets for signs of stabilization or renewed selling. Attention is focused on whether bitcoin can remain above the $60,000 range for an extended period.