Bitcoin fell below the $60,000 mark last week, notching its steepest weekly decline since the collapse of FTX in November 2022. The loss over seven days reached 16 percent. As of today, BTC is trading near $61,500, still more than 50 percent below its all-time peak above $126,000.
Geopolitical tension drives renewed selloff
The selloff accelerated on June 9, following an announcement by US Central Command that military operations had taken place against Iran in “legitimate defense.” This news quickly triggered a 3 percent drop in Bitcoin’s price to $61,766. According to officials, these operations came in response to the downing of a US Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.
Former US President Donald Trump stated on Truth Social that the United States needed to respond to the attack. Meanwhile, Iranian officials denied claims that the helicopter was deliberately targeted.
CoinGlass data revealed that $136 million in long positions were liquidated within 24 hours after the military statement. The majority of these forced closures were in Bitcoin trades.
Technical levels and institutional moves take center stage
Another factor amplifying the bearish sentiment was the sale of a small portion of Bitcoin reserves by Michael Saylor’s firm, Strategy. Though the company soon purchased an additional 1,550 BTC for around $101 million, the sale rattled the market’s longstanding “hold” expectations. Strategy has distinguished itself in recent years as a major institutional Bitcoin holder.
Bitcoin also dipped below its 200-week moving average last week. This closely watched technical threshold is seen by some analysts as indicating the start of a weaker market phase.
Mini glossary: Realized price is an on-chain metric reflecting the average cost of all Bitcoins based on when they were last moved. Analysts often use this figure as a reference for long-term support or cycle bottoms.
Griffin Ardern, co-founder of Primal Fund, observed that the optimism typically seen in long-term options contracts at market bottoms has not yet emerged, suggesting there could be further downside ahead.
Retail buyers add to positions, big wallets reduce exposure
Data from Santiment revealed a marked split between small and large Bitcoin holders. Over the past two weeks, wallets holding less than 0.01 BTC increased their positions by 0.36 percent. In contrast, wallets with holdings of 10 to 10,000 BTC trimmed their balances by 0.20 percent over the same period.
| Wallet group | Period | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Below 0.01 BTC | Past 2 weeks | Up 0.36% |
| Between 10 and 10,000 BTC | Past 2 weeks | Down 0.20% |
Analyst Ted Pillows noted that bottoms in previous Bitcoin cycles have not occurred above the realized price, which currently stands around $53,000. He suggested that BTC could revisit the $50,000 to $52,000 range before forming a cycle low.
Outflows also continued from US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs. These funds have posted net outflows for 13 consecutive trading days, with total withdrawals exceeding $5.5 billion.
