Spot bitcoin ETF withdrawals hit 11th consecutive day, while Strategy dumps 32 BTC
Bitcoin slipped below $70,000 for the first time in two months on June 2, trading near $69,395 as spot bitcoin ETF outflows extended to an 11th consecutive session. The cryptocurrency declined 4.45% in the past 24 hours, leaving markets vulnerable ahead of Friday’s U.S. jobs report.
Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, sold 32 BTC for $2.5 million in late May. The filing became public and bitcoin fell immediately after, though the sale’s symbolic weight masks deeper liquidity pressures, according to Pierre Rochard, a bitcoin researcher and board member at Strive.
“Saylor / Strategy selling a few raspberries isn’t causing bitcoin to crash,” Rochard said. “The reality is that there is a massive parabolic spike in AI-related equities that is vacuuming up all excess liquidity, multiples of bitcoin’s market cap.”
Spot bitcoin ETF withdrawals totaled approximately $3.4 billion to $3.45 billion across the 11-session streak. Ether fell 0.6% to $1,970, while the CoinDesk 20 index retreated 3.2%.
Rochard attributed the weakness not to corporate bitcoin sales but to a shift in market structure. A healthy labor market and higher energy prices are reducing expectations for dovish rate cuts, he noted. “Sentiment for dovish rate cuts is nowhere to be found,” Rochard said, adding that bitcoin’s fundamentals “have never been better.”
Bitcoin is approaching technical support at the 0.618 Fibonacci level near $69,000, a marker from the cryptocurrency’s 2022 lows. The long-term ascending trendline from that period remains in play, though the string of ETF outflows signals institutional reallocation.
Separately, Mt. Gox transferred 10,422 bitcoin worth $739 million to a new wallet ahead of an October 31 creditor repayment deadline. The defunct exchange’s movement of funds underscores ongoing settlement obligations tied to the 2014 hack.
MoneyGram, the payments company, launched a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin on Stellar, expanding its blockchain presence.
Analysts flagged Friday’s U.S. jobs data as the next major catalyst for cryptocurrency markets. The print will test whether labor market resilience continues to anchor higher rate expectations or whether softening employment signals a pivot toward easing.
