Bitcoin fell to its lowest level since September 2024 on Thursday, sliding below $58,000 as a confluence of macro headwinds, ETF outflows, and an impending $10 billion options expiry weighed on the world's largest cryptocurrency. The flagship digital asset recovered slightly to around $59,400, still down roughly 53% from its October all-time high of $126,198.
Bitcoin fell 5% to $58,131 on Thursday, its lowest since September 2024, as macro headwinds and ETF outflows deepened the bear market.
"Capital has been rotating into AI stocks, hot IPOs, and prediction markets," Sam Callahan, director of bitcoin strategy and research at bitcoin treasury firm OranjeBTC, said. "Bitcoin's not as volatile as it was in previous bear markets because of the investor base: it's larger, it's more liquid."
Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $182 million exit this week, on pace for a seventh consecutive week of net outflows, according to Sosovalue. Total assets held in the funds have fallen to $77.5 billion from about $113 billion at the end of last year. The selloff accelerated after roughly $450 million in leveraged long positions were liquidated across exchanges in 60 minutes during Thursday morning's drop, Coinglass data shows.
The decline comes as roughly $10 billion in bitcoin options are set to expire Friday on Deribit, the world's largest crypto options venue, which could spur further volatility. With bitcoin now trading below its 200-week moving average and the Bitcoin Power Law model's support band breached for the first time, traders are watching the $52,000 level as the next downside target, according to options market data from Cboe LiveVol.
The selloff has been compounded by a broader rotation out of crypto and into AI-related equities, with Coatue Management founder Philippe Laffont telling CNBC he was "a little bit more worried" about bitcoin and would "rather bet" on SpaceX or AI-backed businesses. Strategy, the largest corporate bitcoin holder, sold bitcoin for the first time in four years, rattling institutional confidence. The company now holds 847,363 bitcoin at an average purchase price of $75,651 per coin, leaving its position roughly $14.3 billion below its cost basis.
Escalating U.S.-Iran tensions have sent oil prices higher, reviving inflation fears and prompting some Federal Reserve officials to float the possibility of rate hikes rather than cuts — a challenging backdrop for risk assets including cryptocurrencies. The primary upside catalyst for the industry, the market structure bill known as the CLARITY Act, has about five weeks to clear a key legislative hurdle before Congress' summer recess.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
