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Bitcoin Slips Below $60,000, Heads for First Back-to-Back Quarterly Loss Since 2022
Bitcoin's price fell below the $60,000 threshold on Tuesday, continuing a period of decline for the world's largest cryptocurrency. The asset traded down approximately 2.9% to $58,628.7, putting it on course for its second consecutive quarterly loss, a trend not seen since the fourth quarter of 2022. For the second quarter, Bitcoin is down about 14.1%.
The downward pressure is largely attributed to investor concerns over macroeconomic factors, particularly the prospect of rising interest rates. Following a hawkish tone from the Federal Reserve in its June meeting, expectations for at least one rate hike this year have grown. High-interest-rate environments tend to make non-yielding, speculative assets like cryptocurrencies less attractive to investors.
A significant driver of the recent price drop has been sustained capital outflows from spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These institutional investment vehicles have now seen outflows for eight consecutive weeks. On Monday alone, spot ETFs recorded an outflow of $231.1 million, bringing the total for June to $4.3 billion. Since the end of April, total outflows from these funds have reached approximately $6.7 billion, according to data from SoSoValue.
AdThe negative sentiment has extended to the broader cryptocurrency market, with most alternative coins also experiencing losses. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, slipped 3% and is on track for a quarterly loss of more than 25%. Other major cryptocurrencies, including XRP, Solana, and Cardano, also posted declines.