Bitcoin fell to $59,175 overnight, its lowest point since early June, before climbing back to around $61,500 on Thursday morning, according to CoinDesk data. Nearly $1 billion in futures positions were liquidated in major cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and others, into tokenized versions of stocks, such as Micron Technology Inc (MU) and Sandisk (SNDK).
The drop triggered about $430 million in long liquidations on futures contracts tracked by Bitcoin, or bets on higher prices that were automatically closed out as the price fell.
There was no catalyst for this decision. Bitcoin has lost about 10% since Monday’s high near $65,500, pulled lower by the same forces that have dominated all week: a hawkish Fed, six straight weeks of ETF outflows, dwindling summer liquidity and a June 30 end-of-quarter options expiration that traders say is keeping the market volatile.
Leading market maker Wintermute had flagged $59,000 as the bear market low to watch in its note on Tuesday.
The rebound came from outside crypto. Micron Technology reported quarterly earnings after the close that shattered analysts’ estimates, propelling its shares sharply higher and lifting the broader memory chip complex.
SK Hynix separately disclosed plans for a roughly $29 billion U.S. IPO, one of the largest offerings ever. Samsung and Kioxia recovered in Asia on Thursday morning.
The same AI chip trading that sent the Kospi down 10% on Monday on fears the spending boom might end is now what’s stabilizing crypto, with Micron’s results confirming that demand for AI memory is structural, not speculative.
The end of the quarter remains the live risk of the week. Bitcoin’s low of $59,000 held, but $1.6 billion in leveraged long positions sit below $58,000, per CoinGlass, meaning a breakout there would accelerate the decline.
Thursday’s PCE inflation figure, the Fed’s preferred price indicator, is the next data point that could move the market one way or the other.
