📊 MARKETS: Bitcoin just hit its lowest price in 2026, with over $1B liquidated in 24 hours.
Over the past 24 hours, five things have been happening:
US spot Bitcoin ETFs bled $469 million in a single day, up from $114 million the day before. That marks seven straight weeks of net outflows. When investors pull money out of ETFs, the fund managers have to sell actual Bitcoin on the open market to return that cash. Seven weeks of that selling adds up and it did.
The Federal Reserve is the second pressure point. Inflation data expected this week is forecast to come in higher than desired. When inflation stays elevated, the Fed keeps interest rates high or raises them further. High interest rates make holding Bitcoin less attractive because investors can earn guaranteed returns elsewhere. The CME FedWatch tool shows rising probability of rate hikes later this year, and that probability has been climbing all week.
Third, large Bitcoin holders sold. Wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC offloaded tens of thousands of coins recently. Strategy, the company that holds more Bitcoin than any other public firm and built its identity around never selling, sold some Bitcoin to fund dividend payments on its preferred stock. The amount was tiny relative to its total holdings, but market smells fear.
Fourth, once Bitcoin broke through key price levels, traders who had borrowed money to buy Bitcoin were automatically forced to sell to cover their losses. Those forced sales pushed price lower, which triggered more forced sales. Over $1 billion in positions closed in 24 hours.
Fifth, the broader market environment is hostile to risk assets right now. The US dollar has strengthened, and the Bank of Japan has also signaled tighter policy. Capital has also been rotating from crypto into AI stocks. Bitcoin tends to fall hardest when investors want safety and the dollar is strong.
The $59,000 level is being watched closely. It held as support early this year.
Will it hold again?
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