NEW YORK, June 5, 2026, 04:11 EDT
- Bitcoin traded close to $62,700 after dropping, with the $60,000 mark back on traders’ radar.
- ETF demand is down, Strategy’s rare sale has shaken holders, and more capital is heading for AI-linked trades.
- The next risk is forced selling if options and leveraged positions start to break under $60,000.
Bitcoin hovered above $62,000 on Friday, as traders looked at whether this week’s slide could become something bigger. The largest crypto was last seen near $62,725, with session lows coming in around $61,407.
Bitcoin’s old support looks weaker. Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which let investors buy bitcoin exposure on the stock market, have faced big outflows since mid-May. Strategy, the largest corporate holder, reported an unusual sale this week.
Traders are rethinking what’s been the big cross-market trade this year. CoinDesk reported the AI trade that lifted global risk assets up to 2026 was fading, after Broadcom gave a weaker AI-chip outlook. That hit chip stocks and put more pressure on crypto. Reuters said Broadcom’s drop also pulled down the Nasdaq, even as the Dow finished at a record high.
Bitcoin dropped to near $61,300 on Thursday before rebounding, CoinDesk reported. About $3 billion in leveraged crypto positions got liquidated in the last two days. Liquidations happen when traders can’t keep enough collateral to support their borrowed bets, forcing the positions to close.
Strategy unloaded 32 bitcoin, worth about $2.5 million, according to Investopedia, a small sale compared to its 844,000 bitcoin stash. Josh Du, chief investment officer at Animoca Brands, said Strategy’s move ended its “never sell” policy and “shattered” investor trust. Investopedia The Edge Malaysia
Michael Saylor, executive chair at Strategy, responded on X, calling it “capital rotation, not a Bitcoin impairment,” Investopedia reported. Citi analyst Alex Saunders said sentiment may remain “lackluster” and ETF flows are still the “primary driver” for bitcoin, according to his note. Investopedia
Bitcoin’s $60,000 level is more than just a psychological barrier. Jean-David Péquignot, chief commercial officer at Deribit, told CoinDesk that a lot of institutional players have their basis between $60,000 and $67,000. There’s also over $1.2 billion in open interest on $60,000 bitcoin put options—contracts that gain if the price drops.
The risk now is more mechanical. If bitcoin drops, dealers hedging puts may have to sell spot or futures, according to Péquignot. He said a move under $60,000 could set off “a cascading wave” of automated long liquidations. CoinDesk
Bitcoin isn’t getting much support from other tokens. Ether was around $1,668, off 5.8%. Solana was down about 4.7% at $65.69. Zcash dropped more than 40% after Shielded Labs said it found a bug in Zcash’s Orchard privacy pool. The flaw let unlimited fake tokens go undetected until a fix.
Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. posted a net inflow of $3.2 million on June 4, Farside Investors’ table showed, after heavy outflows hit earlier this week. Standard Chartered’s Geoffrey Kendrick kept his $100,000 bitcoin call for the end of the year, calling the week “painful” but saying that most of the selling could be over. Farside Reuters
U.S. payrolls data is the next key macro event. CoinDesk says if the number is soft, that could bring back rate cut hopes and lift both AI stocks and crypto. A strong report would have the opposite effect. For the moment, traders are focused on a single price.
