Overview
- Sustained net withdrawals from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs that began in late May forced issuers to sell underlying coins and removed a key source of steady buying pressure.
- Strategy disclosed on June 1 that it sold 32 BTC to cover preferred-stock distributions, a small transaction that nonetheless signaled funding stress for a company that holds roughly 843,706 BTC at an average cost near $75,700 per coin.
- Heavy leverage in derivatives markets worsened the move as roughly $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion of long positions were liquidated over 24 hours in early June, mechanically driving prices lower through forced selling.
- The combined effects sent Bitcoin below critical supports — first under $64,000 and then below $60,000 — and erased roughly $62 billion from the market value of bitcoin-treasury companies while leaving Strategy about $10–12 billion underwater on paper.
- Traders and analysts say the next indications to watch are ETF flows, any further corporate sales by Strategy, and derivatives hedging because those factors will determine whether current on-chain stress marks a capitulation and a bottom or leads to deeper tests of support near $54,000–$50,000.