Bitcoin fell below $60,000 on Friday, but the market didn’t take it like the adults in the room. The largest crypto asset was trading around $59,911, down about 6% on the day and 18.7% for the week.
This caused the price of Bitcoin to fall to its lowest level since 2024, and a 52% drop from its all-time high of $126,080 in October. The long-held mantra of “just HODL forever” has come under scrutiny with real stock declines, rising interest rates, ETF withdrawals, and some very troubling questions about Saylor’s strategy.
The pain spread across the rest of cryptocurrencies as well. Ethereum has fallen 23% this week to around $1,555, while Solana has fallen 22% in seven days to trade around $63.75. Previous pressure was due to increased ETF outflows and the strategy’s first Bitcoin sale since 2022.
Employment data further lowers Bitcoin’s support level, increasing interest rate concerns
U.S. employers added 172,000 jobs in May, nearly double what traders expected. This data hits crypto at the wrong time, as a stronger labor market would give the Federal Reserve less reason to cut interest rates. It also gave traders further reason to expect policy tightening by the end of the year.
This is usually bad for Bitcoin, as higher interest rates make it harder to justify risky assets.
The total probability of a rate hike by the end of the year was 72.7% on Friday, up from 50.5% a day earlier, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
The probability that the Fed will keep interest rates in the current range of 3.50% to 3.75% fell from 47.4% to 26.9%. The probability of a quarter-point rate cut by the December meeting has fallen from 2.2% to 0.5%.
So after the jobs report, the 10-year Treasury yield soared above 4.53% as traders priced in higher long-term interest rates. This interest rate pressure hurt cryptocurrencies, stocks, and anything else that operated on cheap credit.
Traders are hawkish on Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) right now. Investors will find out on Monday whether the company bought Bitcoin during the week, sold more, or did nothing at all. This is important because strategy has become one of the biggest corporate demand stories in cryptocurrencies.
Sentiment could calm down if there is active buying after last week’s small but significant sale. If it sells off again or remains silent, traders may begin to question one of the most important buyers in the market.
Jeff Kendrick of Standard Chartered said: $BTC …Just two days later, they bought back more than they sold. ”
Jeff added:
“This time, I think the buying following the selling will be more aggressive. I think it will be either 10x (+320x).” $BTC) or 100x (+3200) $BTC). If I’m right, the question is how the market will react. I see this as a preliminary sign that a low has been printed, and given that logic, I suspect the weekend sell-off will be subdued (given the risk that MSTR turns out to have bought a lot of stocks on Monday) $BTC this week). “
Chip stocks drag Wall Street lower as crypto traders monitor strategies
The virtual currency crash occurred while Wall Street was also being hammered. U.S. stocks fell sharply on Friday as chip makers took a big hit. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 4.18% to close at 25,709.43, its worst day since the April 2025 tariff turmoil.
The S&P 500 fell 2.64% to end at 7,383.74. A day after the blue-chip index closed at an all-time high, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 695.15 points, or 1.35%, to 50,866.78.
The S&P 500 also fell more than 2% this week, ending its nine-week winning streak. The Nasdaq Composite fell 4.7% for the week following Friday’s damage. During the same period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (30 stocks) ended with a slight decline.
The reason for the chip crash is not completely clear. Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) disappointed investors Wednesday night by failing to raise its outlook for AI chips. This hurt chip stocks on Thursday, but they fared even worse on Friday. Strong employment data and rising U.S. Treasury yields exacerbated the selloff.
The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) fell 10%, its worst day since March 2020. Broadcom fell nearly 8% on Friday after falling more than 12% on Thursday. Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) fell more than 16%. Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) each fell about 11%.
Memory chip maker Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU), one of the recent stars of the bull market, fell 13% on Friday after falling 8% on Thursday.
