The cryptocurrency market experienced a sharp selloff on Friday, with Bitcoin tumbling to its lowest level since October 2024. The world's largest digital asset fell 5% to $60,750, briefly touching $59,764.90, as a confluence of selling pressure, weak demand, and shifting macroeconomic expectations weighed on sentiment.
Bitcoin is now down roughly 17% for the week and more than 52% below its all-time high of approximately $126,000 reached in October 2025. The decline rippled across crypto-linked equities, with shares of Coinbase, Circle, and Strategy each falling about 8% on Friday. Strategy was down roughly 25% for the week.
Strategy Sale and ETF Outflows Fuel Selling
The selloff intensified after Michael Saylor's Strategy sold a small portion of its Bitcoin holdings, a move that triggered hundreds of millions of dollars in liquidations across crypto markets. The negative sentiment was compounded by persistent outflows from spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which had previously been a key driver of institutional demand.
Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net inflow of just $3 million on Thursday, ending a 13-session streak of outflows—the longest such streak on record. Total net assets across Bitcoin ETFs fell to $80.4 billion from $107.8 billion on May 14. Several analysts also noted a broader rotation of capital away from cryptocurrencies and toward artificial intelligence-related investments.
Data from CryptoQuant showed spot crypto trading volume fell to $679 billion in April, the lowest monthly level since October 2023, indicating a continued lack of demand across the market.
Macro Pressures Add to Headwinds
Cryptocurrencies came under additional pressure after a stronger-than-expected US jobs report on Friday prompted investors to reassess the outlook for interest rates. The labor market data pushed Treasury yields higher and weighed on risk assets broadly. The Nasdaq was down more than 2% on Friday, while investors increasingly shifted away from expectations of interest-rate cuts.
Market participants have now largely priced in the Federal Reserve's next move as a rate hike, reflecting concerns that inflation remains elevated and the labor market continues to show resilience. The changing rate outlook has reduced appetite for speculative assets, including cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin Narratives Under Scrutiny
Bitcoin's recent weakness has also coincided with a divergence from traditional market behavior that many investors expected. While geopolitical uncertainty surrounding the Iran war has weighed on Bitcoin in recent months, US equity markets have continued reaching record highs. That divergence has led some investors to question two of Bitcoin's dominant investment narratives: its role as a form of "digital gold" during periods of geopolitical uncertainty and its tendency to trade as a high-beta technology asset during risk-on market environments.
At the same time, progress on a major legislative catalyst for the industry has stalled. The Clarity Act, a proposed crypto market structure bill that many investors viewed as a potential driver of renewed institutional participation, appears increasingly uncertain as lawmakers remain divided on key provisions and legislative priorities shift elsewhere.
Altcoins Suffer Deeper Losses
The broader cryptocurrency market experienced even sharper declines than Bitcoin. Ether fell to its lowest level since April 2025, when it previously found support near $1,420 before rallying to record highs later that year. A break below that level could bring prices closer to levels last seen during the 2022 crypto bear market.
Among individual tokens, privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash was one of the week's worst performers. Zcash plunged more than 30% on Friday, with losses at one point exceeding 40%, after a security researcher identified a vulnerability that could have enabled the creation of unlimited tokens within its shielded pool. The discovery has also intensified broader discussions within the crypto industry about potential vulnerabilities as artificial intelligence systems become increasingly capable of identifying flaws in software and cryptographic protocols.
For context on broader market dynamics, see Cardano Stalls Below $0.170 as Weak Derivatives Signal Limited Upside and XRP Holds Below $1.40 Despite ETF Inflows and Rising Open Interest.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
