Bitcoin slipped below $60,000 this week, breaking a price floor it had defended since late 2024 and dragging the wider crypto market into one of its sharpest drawdowns of the year. The token fell under the level on June 25, touching an intraday low near $58,000 before steadying around $59,400, according to AMBCrypto. The slide wiped out leveraged traders, accelerated a weeks-long exodus from U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, and pulled Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and BNB lower with it.
More than $1.48 billion in crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours as the level gave way. A liquidation occurs when an exchange forcibly closes a trader’s leveraged position because they can no longer cover its losses, and the speed of this one caught traders betting on higher prices badly offside.
- Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 on June 25, hitting an intraday low near $58,000, its weakest level since October 2024.
- CoinGlass recorded $1.48 billion in liquidations across 217,685 traders in 24 hours, with longs accounting for $1.21 billion versus $269.63 million in shorts.
- U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $469.08 million in net outflows on June 24, cutting total net assets to $73.87 billion per SoSoValue.
- Bitcoin’s daily RSI fell to around 30, pushing it toward oversold territory.
Published: 27 June 2026, 16:00 UTC
What triggered the breakdown
The fall through $60,000 was less a single shock than the snapping point of a pressure that had been building for weeks. Spot Bitcoin ETFs, the institutional pipeline that fueled much of the 2024 and 2025 rally, have turned into a steady source of selling. The $469.08 million that left the funds on June 24, per SoSoValue data, extended a run of redemptions that began in mid-May.
Between roughly May 15 and early June, the spot Bitcoin ETF complex posted 13 straight days of net outflows totaling about $4.4 billion, the longest redemption streak since the products launched in January 2024. Aggregate assets under management across the funds slid from above $104 billion to around $80 billion over that window, and the latest withdrawals have pushed net assets lower still. Persistent outflows remove a reliable source of buying, leaving the market thinner and more vulnerable to fast moves.
Macro conditions made the selling worse. A hawkish turn at the Federal Reserve has erased earlier bets on rate cuts, and a stronger dollar has pressured risk assets across the board. Capital has also rotated out of crypto and into AI-linked equities, draining momentum from digital assets at the same time legislative progress on U.S. market-structure rules has stalled. The weakness has been most visible in the Ethereum-to-Bitcoin ratio, which recently sank to levels last seen in early 2023.
How traders got caught
The damage concentrated among leveraged longs. CoinGlass data cited by AMBCrypto shows 217,685 traders liquidated in 24 hours, with $1.21 billion of the $1.48 billion total coming from long positions betting on higher prices. The single largest liquidation was a $38.05 million Bitcoin position wiped out on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid. The reversal also showed up in derivatives, where a $10.6 billion options expiry settled well below max pain earlier in the week.
That imbalance matters. When longs are liquidated, exchanges sell the underlying collateral into a falling market, which pushes prices down further and triggers the next wave of forced selling. The result is a cascade, and it explains how Bitcoin sliced through the $60,000 support so quickly once selling volume picked up.
Bitcoin’s relative strength index, a momentum gauge that runs from 0 to 100, dropped to roughly 30 during the decline. Readings near or below 30 signal that an asset may be oversold and due for a bounce, though traders generally wait for renewed buying volume before calling a bottom.
What comes next
The near-term direction hinges on whether ETF outflows ease. The funds have become the market’s clearest demand signal, and a return to net inflows would mark a shift in institutional sentiment. Until then, each redemption day adds selling pressure that spot buyers have struggled to absorb.
Technically, the $58,000 to $60,000 zone is now the line in the sand. A daily close back above $60,000 would suggest the breakdown was a flush rather than the start of a deeper leg down. A sustained move below $58,000 would open the door toward lower support and likely trigger another round of liquidations among any longs still holding leverage.
Macro catalysts will set the tone. Traders are watching the Fed’s next moves closely, with a hawkish stance keeping pressure on risk assets and any softening potentially reviving appetite for Bitcoin. For now, the market is digesting a fast, leverage-driven repricing that has put the year’s gains under threat.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Bitcoin fall below $60,000?
Bitcoin broke below $60,000 on June 25 after weeks of outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs removed steady buying support. A hawkish Fed, a stronger dollar, and capital rotating into AI stocks added pressure, and $1.48 billion in liquidations accelerated the drop once the level gave way.
What does $1.48 billion in liquidations mean?
It means exchanges forcibly closed leveraged positions worth $1.48 billion in 24 hours because traders could no longer cover their losses. Longs made up $1.21 billion of that, showing most of the pain hit traders who had bet on higher prices.
Are Bitcoin ETF outflows still happening?
Yes. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $469.08 million in net outflows on June 24, extending a redemption run that began in mid-May. Total net assets across the funds have fallen to roughly $73.87 billion, down from above $104 billion earlier in the cycle.
