$1 Billion Mass Liquidation: Why Did Bitcoin Briefly Drop Below $60,000 Today?



The global crypto market today, June 25, 2026, is facing intense selling pressure. Total market capitalization contracted to around US$2 trillion after #Bitcoin (BTC) briefly plummeted to an overnight low of US$59,175 before rebounding to the US$61,500 range, according to TradingKey.
Here are the three main factors driving today’s volatility:

1. Institutional Capital Rotation into the #AI Sector
The decline was triggered by a massive shift in liquidity from the digital asset market to the surging artificial intelligence (AI) equity sector. This trend was exacerbated by net outflows from Spot Bitcoin ETFs for five consecutive days due to the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance, according to TradingKey.

2. $1 Billion Derivatives Liquidation Domino Effect
The breach of the psychological $60,000 level triggered massive forced liquidations in the futures market totaling nearly US$1 billion across major assets (BTC, ETH, SOL) Coindesk. Of that total, approximately US$430 million consisted of long positions (bets on rising prices) held by traders Coindesk.

3. $10 Billion in Options Set to Expire Tomorrow
The market remains vulnerable to further corrections as Bitcoin options contracts worth US$10 billion are set to expire tomorrow, Friday, on the Deribit exchange [Bloomberg]. Investors are also adopting a wait-and-see approach ahead of tonight’s release of U.S. Core PCE inflation data to determine the direction of the next trend

------------------------------
Disclaimer: This analysis is intended for informational and educational purposes for the Gate Square community and does not constitute financial advice.
BTC-1.88%
ETH-1.71%
SOL-1.20%
This page may contain third-party content, which is provided for information purposes only (not representations/warranties) and should not be considered as an endorsement of its views by Gate, nor as financial or professional advice. See Disclaimer for details.
  • Reward
  • 2
  • Repost
  • Share
Comment
Add a comment
Add a comment
GoToSleepAfterMinting
· 1h ago
Billion-dollar options expire tomorrow. Right now, the longs have already been largely knocked out. Let’s wait for the PCE data to come out and see how the Fed reacts. In the short term, it’s probably best to stay on the sidelines.
View OriginalReply0
MintAfterCoffee
· 3h ago
AI blood-draw + options expiration hits hard twice; breaking the psychological level of 60k indeed triggered severe stampede selling. Tomorrow there’s also a $10B options settlement, so this weekend is likely to be rough.
View OriginalReply0
  • Pinned