The crypto market started June on a bleak note. Bitcoin dropped to $66,500, Ethereum broke below the $1,900 level with an 8% daily decline to $1,855, and SOL fell to $73. The sell-off spread across major coins, altcoins, and crypto-related equities.
The derivatives market triggered the largest wave of leveraged liquidations since February, with total liquidations exceeding $1.7 billion in 24 hours, the majority being long positions. Bitcoin long liquidations alone topped $1.5 billion.
Institutional selling drove the downturn. Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a single-day net outflow of $483.8 million, and the May total hit $2.3 billion—the largest monthly outflow since the start of 2026. This reversed consecutive monthly inflows of $1.32 billion in March and $1.97 billion in April. The pace of institutional offloading outran the price drop itself, far exceeding what downward price action alone could explain.
On the macro front, the overall crypto market exhibited an 84% correlation with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, indicating a shared macro-level sell pressure. As Ethereum broke the psychological $1,900 level, automated stop-loss orders and derivative liquidations cascaded across major exchanges such as Bitstamp and Binance, exacerbating panic.
HYPE Notches ATH Amid Downturn, Showing Remarkable Relative Strength
Against the falling tide, Hyperliquid (HYPE) stood out as an anomaly. HYPE hit an all-time high of $75.51 on June 2, and even after pulling back to $68 at press time (a daily decline of about 8%), it still posted roughly a 15% gain over the past week. With a market cap near $15.9 billion and 24-hour trading volume of $1.54 billion, HYPE ranked 10th among global crypto assets. In a week when the total crypto market shed 7.5%, HYPE’s 15% advance underscored its independent momentum.
ZEC Surges as SEC Closes Investigation, On-Chain Privacy Demand Explodes
Zcash (ZEC) was the brightest standout in the turbulence. ZEC gained over 7% in 24 hours, peaking at $628 intraday and briefly climbing to 11th place by market cap, surpassing $11 billion. The rally’s core catalyst was the ZEC Foundation’s Q1 report, which confirmed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had closed its investigation into Zcash and would take no enforcement action—a major regulatory relief for a privacy coin that had long faced uncertainty.
ZEC’s journey from a February low of $185 to a May high of $688 represents a gain of over 270%. Its shielded addresses climbed from 1.47 million in 2024 to 5.11 million, reflecting sustained on-chain privacy demand. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez noted a TD Sequential buy signal on the 12-hour chart, with a target of $642 if ZEC holds the $500 support. Additionally, governance voting for the Zcash network upgrade NU7 is expected to begin in June 2026, offering further potential support for prices.
