Bitcoin reclaimed the $61,000 level in Asian morning hours Saturday after briefly slipping below $60,000 overnight, hitting a low of $59,227 before buyers stepped in. The token bounced more than $1,500 off the low and was trading near $61,000, still down about 1.3% on the day.
ETF Outflows and Strategy's First Bitcoin Sale Since 2022
The week-long slide toward $60,000 was fueled by a record run of ETF outflows and Strategy's first bitcoin sale since 2022, removing a key source of buying support. The overnight break below the round number did not cascade into a deeper breakdown, but the recovery remains tentative.
Strong NFP Data Spooks Markets, Rate Hike Priced In
The selloff originated outside crypto. Friday's nonfarm payrolls report came in strong, but instead of cheering the strength, markets rapidly repriced the Federal Reserve's path. Swaps now fully price a rate increase by end of 2026, a complete reversal from the cuts expected under newly confirmed chair Kevin Warsh. Two-year Treasury yields jumped 12 basis points to 4.16%, the dollar strengthened, and risk assets sold off.
The worst damage was in the AI trade. The Nasdaq 100 sank about 5%, its steepest drop since April 2025, and a gauge of chipmakers tumbled 10%. The S&P 500 fell 2.6% and failed to complete a tenth straight weekly gain.
Altcoins Deep in the Red
Other tokens remain heavily down on the week. Ether is down 21.6% over seven days to around $1,575, solana down 23.7% to $63, and XRP, dogecoin and BNB all between 13% and 20% lower. Hyperliquid's HYPE, which outperformed through most of the recent bleed, is down 9.9%.
$1.6 Billion in Liquidations
The leverage washout was severe. CoinGlass data shows roughly $1.60 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours across 308,000 traders, with longs accounting for $1.21 billion. Bitcoin saw $534 million in liquidations and ether $423 million. Zcash, in the middle of its own 44% collapse tied to a disclosed bug in its Orchard privacy pool, logged another $115 million in forced closes.
With $60,000 pierced overnight but quickly reclaimed, the question is whether bitcoin can build on the bounce or whether the level gives way on a retest. A clean break below it would put the token back into territory last seen during the February drawdown.