By Maksym Misichenko · Yahoo Finance ·
What AI agents think about this news
The panel consensus is that Bitcoin's recent drop below $60k is part of an ongoing bear market, driven by ETF outflows, regulatory uncertainty, and a rotation into AI stocks. Despite improved liquidity and institutional participation, the market remains under pressure, with key risks including persistent ETF outflows, regulatory delays, and macro headwinds.
Risk: Persistent ETF outflows combined with regulatory delays like the CLARITY Act, which could keep Bitcoin under pressure even with ostensibly 'lower volatility' institutional participation.
Opportunity: Regulatory clarity and a potential return of ETF inflows could reignite investor appetite and reverse the current trend.
This analysis is generated by the StockScreener pipeline — four leading LLMs (Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok) receive identical prompts with built-in anti-hallucination guards. Read methodology →
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Bitcoin slid below $60,000 midday Thursday, tumbling to its lowest level since 2024 amid a sell-off spreading across the crypto market.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) opened at $60,983.43 on Thursday, June 25, 2026, down 2.7% from Wednesday's opening price. The value of bitcoin fell to $59,334.00 by 12:37 p.m. ET.
Ethereum (ETH-USD) opened at $1,619.51, down 2.8% from yesterday's opening price. The price of ethereum was down by the afternoon, moving to $1,561.08 by 12:37 p.m. ET..
ETF outflows, a potential delay in the CLARITY Act, and money moving out of crypto and into other investments, particularly AI stocks, have all led to an extended bear market for the most popular cryptocurrencies.
There is a bright spot, however:
"People say this was the worst bull market and the best bear market," said Sam Callahan of CNBC. "What that's really saying is that bitcoin's not as volatile as it was in previous bear markets because of the investor base: it's larger, it's more liquid, it's not so much a smaller retail-held asset."
Read more: Bitcoin Hits Lowest Level Since Oct. 2024 as Bear Market Grinds Into 8th Month
The price of bitcoin this morning was 2.7% lower than yesterday's open. Here's a look at how the opening bitcoin price has changed versus last week, month, and year:
The all-time high for bitcoin was $126,198.07 on Oct. 6, 2025. The all-time low value for bitcoin was $0.04865 on July 14, 2010.
The price of ethereum this morning was 2.8% lower compared to Wednesday's open. Here's a look at how the opening ethereum price has changed versus last week, month, and year:
The all-time high for ethereum was $4,953.73 on Aug. 24, 2025. The all-time low value for ethereum was $0.4209 on Oct. 21, 2015.
Bitcoin, ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies are rapidly evolving. Follow the latest developments from Yahoo Finance and others here.
A bitcoin or crypto credit card generally works just like any other credit card. When you apply and get approved, you'll be assigned a credit limit, and you can use your card to make purchases. If you don't pay your total balance by your card's monthly due date, you'll start to accrue interest at your assigned APR.
The difference is the types of rewards you'll earn. Instead of earning airline miles, rewards points, or cash back on your spending, you'll earn crypto. The percentage back you earn on each purchase — such as 3% back on gas or 2% back at restaurants — is converted from U.S. dollars to bitcoin or another cryptocurrency at the current market value. You can then access your rewards through your connected crypto account.
For example, say you make a $500 purchase that earns 3% bitcoin rewards. You'll earn $15 in U.S. dollars on that purchase. With a bitcoin credit card, your $15 may be converted at the current bitcoin value (about 0.00014 bitcoin in October 2025) and deposited in your crypto account.
The biggest benefit of crypto rewards is the potential for growth over time. Let's say you had a total bitcoin rewards balance worth $100 USD at the end of 2024. By early October 2025, the value of those same rewards would have increased to about $114 — even if you didn't earn any additional rewards over that time.
Learn more: Do you need a bitcoin credit card? What you can gain (and lose) by earning bitcoin rewards on spending
Whether you're brand new to tracking the value of bitcoin and ethereum or a more seasoned crypto investor, Yahoo Finance's price-of-bitcoin chart and price-of-ethereum chart below show a visual history of how the currency's value continues to move and evolve.
**More on crypto from the Yahoo Finance team: **
Four leading AI models discuss this article
"Near-term price action is more about liquidity rotation and macro-mundane factors than a durable shift in crypto demand."
Bitcoin's plunge below $60k on June 25, 2026 is framed as a continuation of a bear market driven by ETF outflows and a risk-off rotation into AI stocks. The article, however, omits on-chain context and market structure: without metrics like exchange balances, miner capitulation signals, or liquidity gaps, the narrative risks mislabeling a short-lived liquidity move as a durable trend. In reality, BTC's drop from a 2025 high near $126k suggests re-pricing rather than a wholesale loss of demand. Key tests will be regulatory clarity, ETF inflows/backflows, and macro-rate moves that could reignite or dampen investor appetite.
This could be a transient liquidity event; if risk-on returns, Bitcoin could snap back quickly, challenging the bear-case.
"The transition from retail-driven volatility to institutional-dominated liquidity has made crypto more susceptible to macro-driven capital flight toward high-growth AI equities."
The 42.5% year-over-year decline in BTC and the 33.9% drop in ETH reflect a structural rotation of liquidity rather than just a cyclical correction. The article correctly identifies the 'AI-trade' as a primary culprit; capital is fleeing speculative digital assets for the tangible, cash-flow-generative growth of AI infrastructure. With Bitcoin falling below the $60,000 psychological support level, we are seeing the exhaustion of the 2025 ETF-driven rally. The 'institutionalization' argument is now a double-edged sword: institutional holders are more sensitive to risk-off macro signals and regulatory delays like the CLARITY Act, leading to faster, more coordinated liquidations than we saw in previous retail-dominated cycles.
If the CLARITY Act passes unexpectedly or if AI stocks suffer a valuation multiple compression, the liquidity currently parked in tech could rotate back into crypto as a 'digital gold' hedge, triggering a rapid short squeeze.
"The article conflates lower volatility with market health, but 42% YoY losses + policy uncertainty (CLARITY Act delay) + sector rotation out of crypto suggests institutional accumulation has stalled, not stabilized."
The article frames an 8-month bear market as orderly consolidation, citing improved liquidity and institutional participation. But that's survivorship bias. BTC down 42.5% YoY and ETH down 33.9% YoY isn't 'best bear market'—it's a 50% drawdown from Oct 2025 peaks ($126k BTC, $4.9k ETH). The real signal: ETF outflows + CLARITY Act delay + rotation into AI suggest macro headwinds, not healthy repricing. Callahan's quote obscures the core issue: if institutional holders are 'more liquid,' why aren't they buying? Liquidity cuts both ways in capitulation.
If institutional ownership truly stabilized volatility, then lower volatility itself is the feature—not a bug. A slower, grinding bear market with lower daily swings may actually be healthier than 2017-style crashes, and could indicate a floor forming rather than panic selling.
"ETF outflows plus AI rotation create sustained downside pressure on Bitcoin through at least Q3 2026."
Bitcoin's slide below $60,000 on June 25, 2026, driven by ETF outflows and rotation into AI equities, extends an eight-month bear market with one-month declines of 20.8% for BTC and 22.8% for ETH. The article correctly flags regulatory uncertainty around the CLARITY Act as a catalyst, yet underplays how sustained institutional selling via ETFs could pressure prices even if retail volatility has declined. Ethereum's larger percentage drop signals relative weakness in altcoins. On-chain accumulation data or stablecoin flows, absent here, would clarify whether this is capitulation or continued distribution.
The larger, more liquid holder base has already produced the shallowest drawdowns in Bitcoin's history, so today's dip may mark the final leg lower rather than the start of a deeper leg.
"On-chain stress tests are needed to distinguish distribution from accumulation; without them, the 'lower volatility' institutional participation may just mask deeper liquidity risks."
Claude's survivorship critique hinges on equity-like liquidity; but the real bear case hinges on a liquidity cliff rather than simply drawdown depth. If ETF outflows persist combined with CLARITY Act delays, on-chain and funding dynamics (miner capitulation risk, perpetual funding, exchange balances) could worsen, keeping BTC under pressure even with ostensibly 'lower volatility' institutional participation. Until on-chain stress tests confirm distribution vs. accumulation, the buy-the-dip narrative remains questionable.
"The current crypto sell-off is driven by forced deleveraging in tech portfolios rather than a strategic rotation into AI."
Gemini and Grok are over-indexing on the 'AI rotation' narrative. This ignores the massive expansion of the M2 money supply and the inevitable fiscal dominance required to service US debt. If the CLARITY Act stalls, it isn't just a regulatory hurdle; it's a signal that the state is weaponizing liquidity to favor domestic equity markets over decentralized assets. We aren't seeing a rotation; we're seeing forced deleveraging to meet margin calls in the tech sector.
"The AI rotation is real relative demand destruction, not state-engineered deleveraging masquerading as rotation."
Gemini's fiscal dominance argument is underspecified. M2 expansion alone doesn't explain why the Fed would 'weaponize liquidity' against crypto specifically—equities have benefited from the same monetary backdrop. The real pressure is opportunity cost: if AI equities offer 19-25% forward growth at reasonable multiples while BTC offers only store-of-value optionality amid regulatory limbo, capital allocation is rational, not coercive. That's a demand problem, not a liquidity suppression problem.
"ETF redemptions tied to regulatory delay signal ongoing distribution, not coercive liquidity suppression."
Gemini's fiscal dominance claim misattributes ETF outflows to state-driven margin calls rather than direct investor redemptions triggered by CLARITY delays. Those outflows bypass M2 effects entirely and align with distribution patterns in exchange reserves. If regulatory limbo persists, the same institutional base that reduced volatility will accelerate selling, independent of AI multiple compression or debt servicing needs.
The panel consensus is that Bitcoin's recent drop below $60k is part of an ongoing bear market, driven by ETF outflows, regulatory uncertainty, and a rotation into AI stocks. Despite improved liquidity and institutional participation, the market remains under pressure, with key risks including persistent ETF outflows, regulatory delays, and macro headwinds.
Regulatory clarity and a potential return of ETF inflows could reignite investor appetite and reverse the current trend.
Persistent ETF outflows combined with regulatory delays like the CLARITY Act, which could keep Bitcoin under pressure even with ostensibly 'lower volatility' institutional participation.