Bitcoin slid below $61,000 and kept falling, bottoming out at an intraday low of $59,227 as a wave of forced selling swept through crypto markets. In the space of just one hour, $172 million worth of leveraged long positions on BTC were wiped out.
The broader damage was far worse. Total liquidations across cryptocurrency markets hit $1.6 billion, with $1.21 billion of that coming from traders who had bet on prices going up. Roughly 308,000 traders got liquidated within a 24-hour window, according to CoinGlass data.
A jobs report lit the fuse
The catalyst was decidedly old-school: a US jobs report. The June 5 employment data came in stronger than expected, which sounds like good news until you remember what it means for Federal Reserve policy. Hotter labor market equals less reason for the Fed to cut rates. Less rate-cutting means a stronger dollar and higher Treasury yields, both of which tend to siphon capital away from risk assets.
The Nasdaq 100 dropped approximately 5% in response. Bitcoin, which has increasingly traded like a leveraged tech bet, followed it right off the cliff.
