Bitcoin plunges below $60K — weakest price since October…

Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 for the first time since October 2024, extending a collapse that now totals nearly 20% in a single week and more than 52% from its all-time high above $126,000 set last October. The selloff accelerated as multiple headwinds converged simultaneously, leaving bulls with little structural support.

Why it matters

The most significant catalyst is Strategy — Michael Saylor's firm and Bitcoin's single largest corporate buyer — having flipped to net seller, removing a key demand pillar that markets had come to treat as a structural floor. Simultaneously, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded persistent outflows as institutional and retail capital rotated into AI-related equities. Stubbornly elevated inflation and a stronger-than-expected labor market print on Friday forced a full repricing of Fed expectations: markets that entered 2025 pricing in rate cuts now have the Fed's next move fully priced as a hike, a direct headwind for risk assets.

Market impact

U.S. equities lost momentum alongside crypto, with the Nasdaq falling more than 2% on Friday. XRP dropped an additional 5%, briefly breaking below $1.10 before dip buyers emerged near $1.09 — despite roughly $4 million in fresh XRP ETF inflows. Zcash plunged more than 40% overnight after a critical vulnerability was discovered using Anthropic's Opus 4.8 AI model, adding a fresh layer of protocol-security anxiety to an already risk-off tape. The convergence of macro repricing, institutional selling, and AI-driven capital rotation makes this a structurally driven drawdown, not a short-term flush.