Bitcoin fell below $62,000 on June 23, touching an intraday low of $61,938 after sliding from its June 16 peak of $67,203. According to the source material, it later settled at $62,450, down 2.70% over 24 hours. Ethereum posted a steeper decline, dropping to $1,635 with a 5.45% daily loss, leaving it nearly 11% below its June 16 high of $1,843. Selling pressure spread across the market as risk appetite weakened.
Liquidations reached $714 million, with longs taking the bulk of the damage
Derivatives markets saw the sharpest impact. CoinGlass data cited in the report showed total crypto liquidations over the past 24 hours climbed to $714 million, affecting 144,121 traders. Long positions accounted for roughly $595 million, or 83% of the total, while short liquidations came in at about $119 million. The structure points to a classic long squeeze, with leveraged bullish positions hit first and hardest. The largest single liquidation was reported at $80.66 million.
The pace also accelerated over shorter time frames. Liquidations reached $189 million in one hour, $411 million over four hours, and $513 million over 12 hours. That build-up suggests selling had not yet clearly exhausted itself at the time of reporting.
Hawkish Fed tone, ETF outflows and weaker tech stocks added pressure
The report tied the pullback to several overlapping factors. One was a hawkish message from Kevin Warsh after chairing the June 18 FOMC meeting. Rates were kept unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75%, but the Fed’s dot plot raised inflation expectations and indicated that another rate hike could still be possible in 2026. The same remarks also stopped short of offering any commitment to rate cuts, keeping pressure on risk assets.
The article also pointed to continued net outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs over multiple weeks, describing that as a sign of institutional money pulling back. In equities, tech stocks were also under pressure on June 22. The Nasdaq closed down 1.32% at 26,166, while Alphabet fell 5%, Amazon lost 4.8%, and Microsoft dropped 3%. That weakness in large-cap tech names coincided with the decline in crypto prices.
SOL and XRP joined the slide as fear gauge fell to 23
Major altcoins moved lower as well. SOL posted the largest decline among the assets cited, falling 6.79% in 24 hours to a low of $68.16. That left it more than 9% below its June 16 high of $75.60. XRP dropped 2.73% to $1.103, with a 24-hour low of $1.0946, around 14% below its June 16 peak of $1.29.
Market sentiment remained weak. The Fear and Greed Index was reported at 23, placing it in the “extreme fear” zone. That was slightly above the previous day’s reading of 20, but still reflected a defensive mood across the market. The source said traders were watching the Fed’s next signals, whether U.S. tech stocks could stabilize, and if spot Bitcoin ETF flows could turn positive. Bitcoin’s low of $61,938 stood as the key reference level cited in the report.