Bitcoin fell below $60K as Deutsche Bank cited hawkish Fed expectations, ETF outflows and competition from AI-linked investments.
Bitcoin News
Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below $60,000 on June 5, marking its lowest level since late 2024, according to Deutsche Bank. The bank said the decline reflects a mix of macroeconomic and structural forces, and that BTC is now trading more like an institutional risk asset than a retail-driven speculative bet.
Three factors are driving the sell-off, the bank said. A hawkish shift in Federal Reserve expectations, sustained outflows from US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, and a broader rotation of investor money into artificial intelligence have all weighed on price.
Analyst Marion Laboure summarized the shift in a report on June 23. Bitcoin is not disappearing, Laboure wrote, but is maturing into an institutional asset whose price now depends on fund flows, Fed expectations, competing risk themes, and legislative outcomes.
Fed Outlook Shifts Toward Rate Hikes
The Federal Reserve held interest rates at 3.50% to 3.75% during its June 18 meeting under new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. The central bank also removed easing language from its statement, cutting the text from 341 words to 130.
The Fed's dot plot flipped from an implied rate cut to an implied hike. The 2026 median rate projection rose to 3.8%, up from 3.4% in March. Nine of the 18 Fed participants now project at least one rate increase this year.
Markets have repriced the odds of a December rate hike to roughly 77%, up sharply from about 24% a month earlier. Deutsche Bank's economists now expect two rate increases in 2026, reversing earlier forecasts that policy would ease.
The rate shift removed a key source of support for Bitcoin and other risk assets, the bank said. Higher rates raise the cost of holding assets that generate no yield, which has pressured both Bitcoin and gold in recent sessions.
ETF Outflows and AI Spending Add Pressure
US spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded six straight weeks of net outflows, totaling about $6 billion, according to Deutsche Bank. Spot Bitcoin ETFs alone posted a net outflow of $68.2 million on June 22, according to data from SoSoValue, with Ark Invest and 21Shares' ARKB fund posting the largest single-day inflow that day at $64 million. Spot Ethereum ETFs lost $66 million over the same period.
Because ETF demand has become a major driver of Bitcoin's price, the shift toward outflows has amplified downward pressure on the asset, Deutsche Bank said.
Laboure also pointed to growing competition from artificial intelligence investment. US technology companies are expected to spend more than $700 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026. Laboure wrote that investors increasingly view Bitcoin and AI-linked stocks as competing places to put speculative capital, adding that the typical marginal buyer of Bitcoin is no longer a retail trader but an ETF allocator or corporate treasury.
Related Article: Bitcoin ETF Outflows Hit Record $6.4B as BTC Drops 17%
Strategy's Bitcoin Sale Shakes Confidence
Strategy (MSTR) recently sold Bitcoin for the first time since 2022, an event that contributed to the broader confidence shock in the market, Deutsche Bank said. Despite the sale, the company continued to add to its holdings overall. Strategy purchased 520 BTC and increased its USD reserve by $300 million, bringing that reserve to $1.4 billion.
Wintermute, in a market update, said leverage in the market has largely been cleared out and that Strategy's continued accumulation has removed the forced-seller risk that had weighed on sentiment. Wintermute also cautioned that demand from the two largest structural buyers, ETFs and Strategy, has weakened compared to earlier phases of this market cycle.
Options Expiry and Other Pressures Loom
A $10.6 billion options expiry is set for June 26 on the Deribit exchange. Nearly 80% of the open interest tied to that expiry is currently out of the money, with heavy positioning at the $60,000 put strike and the $80,000 call strike.
Bitcoin remains more than 50% below its October 2025 record high. At the time of publication, Bitcoin was trading 3.5% lower over a 24-hour period, at around $62,600.
Analysts have also pointed to Thursday's upcoming personal consumption expenditures (PCE) inflation report as a near-term catalyst. Consensus forecasts put headline PCE growth at 0.4% month-over-month, with core PCE between 0.3% and 0.4%.
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