Topline
Bitcoin plunged Monday to its lowest price since May 3, extending the midyear selloff cutting into the leading cryptocurrency’s strong returns following January’s landmark approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
It’s been a down June for bitcoin.
Key Facts
Bitcoin fell by nearly 7% by 6:30 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time, or 2:30 p.m. ET, trading at about $59,800 before recovering to about $60,200 shortly after (crypto price movements are typically measured in GMT as digital assets trade constantly).
Bitcoin is now down 11% in June, but remains up 42% year-to-date, with the gains largely concentrated around the ETF approval.
The recent losses were apparently catalyzed by anticipated sales linked to long-shuttered Japanese exchange Mt. Gox’s looming return of nearly $9 billion worth of bitcoin to creditors and the German government’s reported sale of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the cryptocurrency.
Other cryptocurrencies also slumped Monday, as Ether, Binance coin and Solana all fell 2.8% or more.
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Surprising Fact
Bitcoin withdrawals at crypto exchanges outnumbered deposits by $522 million from Wednesday to Sunday, according to FactSet data, indicating a number of bitcoin holders are cashing out on their investments.
Crucial Quote
“The crypto bears have become louder again,” Bernstein analysts Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra wrote to clients Monday. “After months of Bitcoin ETF euphoria, the market suddenly feels bearish,” continued the Bernstein group, who maintain a highly bullish $200,000 price target for bitcoin, expecting prices to more than triple.
Key Background
Bitcoin prices are up almost 300% since the end of 2022, with much of its gains stemming from hype about the spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. The ETFs were a crucial step for bitcoin entering the mainstream market, as legacy money managers like BlackRock and Fidelity set up low-fee funds for investors to invest directly in the price of bitcoin via typical brokerages, not having to go to crypto exchanges to directly buy bitcoin. Bitcoin is by far the most valuable cryptocurrency, with a market capitalization of $1.2 trillion.
