Bitcoin dropped to $59,175 overnight, the lowest since early June, recovering modestly to around $61,500 by Thursday morning. Nearly one billion dollars in futures positions were liquidated across crypto majors and tokenized equities.
The move triggered roughly $430 million in long liquidations on bitcoin-tracked futures - bets on higher prices automatically closed as the market fell.
No single catalyst caused the slide. A hawkish Federal Reserve, six consecutive weeks of ETF outflows, thinning summer liquidity, and quarter-end options expiry on June 30 have kept the market unsettled all week. Wintermute had flagged $59,000 as the bear-market low to watch.
The bounce came from outside crypto. Micron Technology reported quarterly earnings that shattered estimates, lifting its shares and the broader memory chip complex. SK Hynix separately outlined a potential U.S. listing seeking around $29 billion. Samsung and Kioxia also rallied in Asian trading.
The AI chip trade that earlier rattled the Kospi is now steadying crypto, with Micron’s results confirming structural demand for AI memory. Quarter-end remains the week’s key risk. Bitcoin’s $59,000 low held, but $1.6 billion in leveraged long positions sit clustered below $58,000 - a break there would accelerate the drop. Thursday’s PCE inflation print, the Fed’s preferred gauge, is the next data point that could move the market in either direction.