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Bitcoin Rebounds Above $60,000 After 14% Quarterly Loss
Bitcoin reclaimed the key $60,000 level on Wednesday, staging a partial recovery a day after closing out a difficult second quarter with a 14% loss. The rebound, which saw the price rise nearly 4% to $60,807.4, comes after the digital asset briefly touched a 22-month low of $57,803 earlier in the day, according to Investing.com data.
Record ETF Outflows Drive Weakness
The recent price pressure has been significantly influenced by sustained institutional selling through U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These investment vehicles, which launched in early 2024, suffered their largest monthly outflows on record in June.
According to data from SoSoValue, investors pulled a net $4.5 billion from the products in June, extending a withdrawal streak to nine consecutive days. Key figures on the outflows include:
- The June total surpassed the previous monthly outflow record of $3.48 billion.
- BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the largest spot ETF by assets, accounted for $3.55 billion of the month’s outflows.
- Total net assets across all U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have fallen to approximately $70.9 billion, down from a peak above $110 billion.
AdMacro Headwinds and Analyst Downgrades
The broader market environment remains challenging for non-yielding assets like cryptocurrencies. A hawkish stance from the U.S. Federal Reserve has led to expectations of higher interest rates, increasing the opportunity cost of holding Bitcoin. This sentiment has been compounded by a rotation of investor capital into high-performing artificial intelligence-related stocks.
Reflecting the bearish sentiment, analysts at Citi on Tuesday cut their 12-month price target for Bitcoin to $82,000 from $112,000, citing weakening investor demand and negative ETF flows. In a bear-case scenario, the bank sees Bitcoin potentially falling to $53,000. Broader crypto markets followed Bitcoin's lead on Wednesday, with Ether and Solana also posting gains.