Bitcoin fell below $60,000 on Friday, hitting its lowest level since October 2024 and dropping below the low set during the crypto market’s sharp decline in February this year. Over the past week, BTC has declined nearly 20%, retreating more than half from its peak above $126,000 in October 2025.
Multiple pressures occurring simultaneously
The factors suppressing Bitcoin recently are not due to a single event. Reports mention that Strategy, long regarded as Bitcoin’s largest single buyer, has shifted to a seller, weakening market expectations of its continued buying pressure.
Meanwhile, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have continued to experience outflows. Some investors, after withdrawing from crypto assets, have shifted toward AI-related stocks and sectors that have recently performed stronger, weakening marginal funding support for Bitcoin.
Interest rate expectations are weighing on risk assets.
Persistent high inflation in the U.S., combined with stronger-than-expected employment data, has prompted markets to reassess the Fed’s policy path. Bets on rate cuts are receding, and markets are now pricing in the possibility of a next move being a rate hike.
- Bitcoin once fell below $60,000
- The cumulative decline for the week is nearly 20%.
- Down more than 52% from the October 2025 high
This shift has also impacted broader risk assets. After a streak of record highs, U.S. equities lost momentum, with the Nasdaq falling over 2% on Friday, as risk appetite declined and crypto assets faced intensified pressure.
AI security concerns spread
In addition to macroeconomic and funding factors, the market is also digesting concerns that AI and quantum computing could expose weaknesses in cryptographic protocols. The report noted that after Anthropic’s latest Opus 4.8 model helped identify a critical vulnerability, the privacy coin Zcash plunged over 40% in a single night.
Although these incidents were concentrated on a few tokens, they heightened market sensitivity to the security of cryptocurrency protocols. When Bitcoin is already in a weak range, additional risk events are more likely to trigger risk-off behavior and selling pressure.