Bitcoin price plummets.

Bitcoin price is at its lowest level in two months. Photo: Bitcoin Magazine .

Bitcoin's price has fallen by more than 6% in the last 24 hours, currently trading around $66,000 /BTC, which is also the lowest point since the beginning of the year. Compared to its historical peak of approximately $126,000 set in October last year, Bitcoin's price has now lost nearly 50%.

According to Bloomberg, pessimistic sentiment towards Bitcoin has led to the liquidation of nearly $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency positions in the past 24 hours. Data from CoinGlass shows this is the largest leveraged liquidation since February. Of that amount, approximately $800 million worth of positions related to Bitcoin were wiped out.

Bitcoin's decline occurred while the US stock market maintained its upward momentum thanks to a wave of investment in artificial intelligence (AI). Global stocks were also supported by expectations of a potential agreement to end the conflict that has caused significant volatility in financial markets recently.

However, Bitcoin is facing new obstacles as two sources of demand that were once considered the most important drivers of the market—spot ETFs and billionaire Michael Saylor's Strategy—have unexpectedly become factors putting pressure on the price.

Jasper De Maere, an OTC trader at Wintermute, believes the sell-off may have been triggered by news that Strategy was selling.

"However, the reality is that even without this information, market momentum had already weakened. Institutional participation that we observed on the OTC market has gradually decreased back to previous lows," he said.

On June 1st, Strategy announced its first Bitcoin sale since late 2022, valued at approximately $2.5 million , out of the nearly $59 billion worth of Bitcoin the company currently holds.

Although the transaction size is very small compared to the amount of Bitcoin in Strategy's reserves, this move is still symbolic because it marks the first time the company has gone against the "buy and hold at all costs" strategy that has made Strategy one of the world's largest Bitcoin holders.

Bitcoin price plummets. Photo: CoinMarketCap.

Strategy shares fell as much as 10% in the most recent trading session, the sharpest decline since February. Over the past year, the stock's value has lost more than 60%.

Pressure on Bitcoin became even more apparent when spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US recorded 11 consecutive sessions of outflows, the longest streak ever. In total, investors withdrew nearly $3.5 billion from this group of funds during that period.

James Butterfill, Head of Research at CoinShares, argues that progress in establishing a regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency market in the US previously played a supportive role for Bitcoin's price. However, that positive impact has now been overshadowed by risk aversion related to geopolitical developments in Iran.

Meanwhile, Sean McNulty, Director of Derivatives Trading for Asia Pacific at FalconX, warned that if Bitcoin closes daily or weekly below $70,000 , the market could be entering a structural shift rather than just a temporary reaction to short-term news.