Bitcoin Slides to $61K as ETF Outflows Hit $2.97B, $235B in Value Wiped

Bitcoin News

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have endured their longest redemption streak on record, with cumulative net outflows reaching roughly $2.97 billion through the end of May. With fresh inflows largely absent, price direction has become tightly bound to capital flows, dragging Bitcoin down about 10% on the week to near $61,100. On-chain data shows a notable split: smaller wallets accumulated through the decline, while cohorts holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC trimmed exposure over the past two weeks. Strategy also booked its first sale since 2022, offloading 32 BTC. Bitcoin now trades more than 50% below its October 2025 peak above $126,000.

The selloff extended well beyond crypto on June 9, as a broad risk-off wave swept gold, silver, oil and technology equities simultaneously. Spot gold slipped about 0.7% to $4,252 an ounce, silver dropped 3.2%, and Brent crude fell nearly 4% to $89.57 a barrel as a partial easing of Middle East tensions unwound the war premium. The pressure traced back to stronger-than-expected US labor data: nonfarm payrolls rose 172,000 in May against forecasts near 80,000, with April revised up to 179,000. The print lifted Treasury yields and weakened bets on near-term Federal Reserve rate cuts, deepening the prevailing bear market for non-yielding assets.

A widening behavioural divergence is complicating the bottom debate after Bitcoin rebounded from the $59,000 area. On-chain commentary highlights that retail participants have treated every dip as a buying opportunity for months, while mid-sized and institutional holders have used each bounce to sell. That dynamic runs counter to classic capitulation, which typically forms when smaller investors abandon hope. Analyst Ali Martinez, citing supply-in-loss and MVRV readings, flagged a potential bottoming zone between $53,900 and $43,150. The combination of persistent whale distribution and resilient retail conviction strengthens the case that price could probe lower before a durable floor is confirmed.

Defensive positioning is also visible through inverse products. The ProShares UltraShort Bitcoin fund, which targets roughly twice the inverse of Bitcoin's daily move, has surged about 46.49% since the start of 2026, while Bitcoin itself has fallen 29.85% over the same span. Veteran trader Peter Brandt flagged an inverse head-and-shoulders chart pattern forming on the fund's daily timeframe, with the structure testing resistance near the $61 to $62 zone — a breakout that could signal renewed selling pressure on spot. Cycle analyst Bob Loukas separately warned the market may need three to five months of choppy sideways action before a new cycle base forms.

The cause of the roughly $235 billion erased from Bitcoin's market value remains contested among industry figures. Michael Saylor tied the drawdown to capital rotating into the artificial intelligence sector, an explanation that drew sharp pushback from Arca's chief investment officer, who accused him of misleading investors. Abra chief executive Bill Barhydt countered that AI inflows are not crypto money leaving the market, arguing the real drags are long-term holder profit-taking and tightening global liquidity. He also stressed that Strategy's balance sheet is only about 11% leveraged. Notably, Saylor reportedly sold 32 BTC before repurchasing roughly 1,500 at lower prices.

Major altcoins flashed deep oversold signals even as Bitcoin steadied in the $62,000 to $63,000 band. XRP lost its $1.28 to $1.30 support and slid swiftly toward $1.10, a break that likely triggered cascading stop-losses and liquidations before buyers attempted to stabilise it near $1.15. Shiba Inu broke down from its months-long ascending channel to around $0.0000045, while Dogecoin retreated to roughly $0.085. Relative strength readings across these tokens fell into oversold territory, historically a setup for short-lived relief bounces. Still, with prices trading below key moving averages, the broader trend across the altcoin complex remains decisively to the downside.

COINOTAG's proprietary 42-indicator composite scoring engine rates the $61,776 resistance at 80/100, driven by the confluence of the prior daily close and the R1 pivot, with the $64,207 level scoring 73/100 on Fibonacci 0.214 and the volume point of control. On the downside, the $59,131 support scores a strong 79/100 from the Donchian lower band and swing low, backed by $57,078 at 70/100 from the Bollinger and ATR lower bands. RSI at 23.51, a bearish MACD and a 9/100 Extreme Fear reading underline capitulation conditions. Yet derivatives tell a cautionary story: funding sits at 0.0032%, open interest holds near $11.49 billion, and a 2.13 long/short ratio shows 68.1% of accounts still long — crowded positioning that could fuel further downside. A daily close below $57,078 would invalidate any near-term recovery thesis.