Bitcoin Breaks $60K, Hits 20-Month Low
Bitcoin pierced the critical $60,000 support level during intraday trading on June 26, falling as low as $59,023 — the lowest price since October 2024 and a 20-month nadir. The digital asset has since staged a minor recovery, trading around $60,600 at press time, with 24-hour losses narrowing to about 3% and a seven-day decline of roughly 9%. This marks the third time Bitcoin has broken below $60,000 this year, but unlike previous instances, the current sell-off occurs against a backdrop of sustained institutional capital flight and a sharp shift in macroeconomic policy expectations, systematically eroding market confidence.
Spot ETFs See Longest Net Outflow Streak on Record
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have been the primary catalyst for this downturn. Since mid-May, ETFs have recorded net outflows for six consecutive weeks, with cumulative outflows reaching approximately $5.94 billion over the past 30 days — the largest institutional withdrawal wave since the products launched in January 2024. BlackRock's IBIT alone saw a single-day net outflow of $528 million on May 28, the highest ever for a spot Bitcoin ETF. Total assets under management across all Bitcoin ETFs have fallen from around $113 billion at the start of the year to roughly $77.5 billion, a decline of over 30%. According to The Block, ETF outflows continued on June 23 with a net $113.8 million, indicating no substantive reversal in the withdrawal trend. The ETF mechanism amplifies selling pressure: when institutions redeem shares, authorized participants must sell the corresponding Bitcoin directly on the secondary market, creating persistent spot selling. CoinShares characterizes the situation as an "emotional shock" rather than a fundamental structural breakdown in the crypto market. Investors are closely watching whether institutional selling pressure will ease in the coming weeks.
Macro Pressures and Rate Hike Expectations Intensify
The macro environment is also exerting significant downward pressure on Bitcoin. The U.S. April JOLTS report revealed 7.62 million job openings, far exceeding expectations and hitting the highest level in nearly two years. This pushed the 10-year Treasury yield back above 4.45%. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack subsequently warned that if inflation remains elevated, the Federal Reserve may need to resume rate hikes. CME FedWatch data shows the market-implied probability of a rate hike before year-end has risen above 50%. The strong bull market of 2025 was built on expectations of Fed rate cuts and accommodative liquidity; once rate cut expectations reverse and real interest rates rise, institutional capital tends to rotate into low-risk assets such as bonds and cash. Bitcoin, a high-risk asset, bears the brunt of this rotation. In the near term, market focus will be on upcoming U.S. inflation data and the Fed's next policy signals. A lower-than-expected CPI print could provide a temporary relief rally for Bitcoin, while another sticky inflation reading would deepen selling pressure. Until extreme fear subsides and ETF flows show a clear inflection point, whether Bitcoin can hold the $60,000 line may determine the next direction of this bear cycle.
