Bitcoin Suffers Worst Week Since 2024 as ETF Outflows Hit Record Pace

Crypto enters the new week under its heaviest pressure in months. From June 1 to June 5, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded $1.72 billion in net outflows, marking a fourth consecutive week of redemptions and pushing the 30-day average of U.S. spot ETF flows to -2,450 BTC per day, the fastest sustained outflow pace since the products launched. Bitcoin just logged its worst week since the 2024 yen-carry unwind, falling 12.6%, while more than $5.7 billion in long positions were liquidated over seven days. 

The macro trigger was a blowout May jobs report, with 172,000 payrolls added against an 85,000 forecast, leaving the Fed with less room to ease. Under the surface, the damage is broader: retail spot volume has collapsed, ETF demand has turned structurally negative, more than half of Bitcoin supply is now held at an unrealized loss, and realized losses have surged to $1.3 billion per day. The market is not facing a single shock. It is facing a full reset in liquidity, positioning and confidence.

Bitcoin is trading near $62K, down 32% year-to-date, while Ethereum sits near $1.6K, down roughly 45% this year. The week’s price action was violent and broad-based.

Bitcoin spot ETFs lost $1.72 billion, Ethereum ETFs saw $168 million in outflows, SOL ETFs lost $6.5 million, and XRP ETFs managed only $2.6 million in inflows. HYPE remained one of the few bright spots, attracting $17 million despite the wider market drawdown.

The ETF story is now central. A one-week outflow can be dismissed as positioning. Four consecutive weeks, with the 30-day average hitting record negative territory, point to a structural shift in institutional demand. The marginal buyer has stepped back.

Price is now reflecting that absence.

The liquidation tape confirms the stress. More than $5.7 billion in long positions were wiped out in seven days. Bitcoin’s 12.6% weekly drawdown ranks among the worst weeks of the decade, though the context is important. Prior episodes of comparable damage were usually tied to a single catastrophic event: a ban, a bankruptcy, a blow-up. This week’s pressure came from multiple sources at once: ETF redemptions, stronger labor data, the Zcash security shock, Strategy-related selling concerns and a broader rotation toward AI-led equities.

That is harder to price.

The May jobs report landed as the most important macro event of the week.

Nonfarm payrolls rose 172,000, more than double expectations. The unemployment rate held at 4.3%, while average hourly earnings rose 0.2%, softer than the 0.3% forecast. The market read the report as strong enough to delay rate relief, even if wages offered some inflation comfort.

That matters for crypto because Bitcoin is increasingly trading as a liquidity-sensitive asset. A stronger labor market gives the Fed less reason to cut. Higher-for-longer policy keeps pressure on long-duration risk assets.

At the same time, U.S. equities continue to command capital. The S&P 500 surpassed $69 trillion in market value for the first time, while President Trump suggested the administration may take equity stakes in U.S. AI companies. Michael Saylor captured the broader market reality bluntly: the AI buildout is absorbing capital. That is the competition Bitcoin faces right now.

Crypto is no longer the only high-conviction growth trade in the room. AI has earnings, policy support, infrastructure spending and momentum. Bitcoin has scarcity, but the flow tape is weak.

The coming week brings another critical macro sequence: May Existing Home Sales on Tuesday, May CPI on Wednesday, May PPI and the OPEC Monthly Report on Thursday, followed by Michigan inflation expectations and consumer sentiment on Friday. After the payroll surprise, inflation data becomes even more important. A hot CPI or PPI print would reinforce the policy headwind. A softer read would give risk assets room to stabilize.

The onchain picture is deteriorating, though it also contains the early outlines of a longer-term reset.

Retail has disappeared from the crypto market. CEX spot volume fell to $679 billion, the lowest level since October 2023. Spot trading is down 46% year-over-year and 67% below the October 2025 peak. Major exchanges are now pivoting toward gold, silver, oil and stocks, where monthly volume has already moved beyond $450 billion.

That is an extraordinary signal. Retail is not merely cautious. Retail is absent.

Institutional demand has also turned negative. The 30-day average of U.S. spot ETF netflows now sits at -2,450 BTC per day, the fastest sustained outflow pace since launch. Until that trend reverses, ETFs remain a headwind rather than a support.

The cost-basis map explains why the recovery will be difficult. A dense supply cluster sits between $80K and $126K, representing buyers who entered near cycle highs and remain underwater. For Bitcoin to recover sustainably, that supply has to migrate into stronger hands at lower cost bases. That process usually requires time, lower prices, or both.

Realized losses are already accelerating. Aggregated realized loss spiked to $1.3 billion per day as price contracted back toward $62K. Long-term holders accounted for roughly $770 million, or 59% of those losses. That is a major change. The cycle-top buyers who held through the drawdown are now beginning to exit.

The ownership structure is also evolving. Bitcoin is at roughly the same price it was two years ago, yet the 6-month to 2-year cohort now holds 53% of realized cap, up from 15% two years ago. In the prior cycle, Bitcoin bottomed when that figure reached 68%. The signal is clear: short-term holders are aging into long-term holders, but the transition is incomplete.

The weakest part of the market is price. The strongest part remains infrastructure. Visa, Mastercard and Stripe are preparing to launch crypto stablecoin platforms. That matters because the stablecoin story is increasingly detached from speculative token cycles. Payments, settlement and dollar liquidity continue to advance even as spot crypto trades poorly.

That is where the market is bifurcating. Bitcoin is losing ETF support. Yet stablecoin rails are becoming more institutional, more integrated and more relevant to traditional finance. For investors, that distinction matters. Crypto beta is under pressure. Crypto infrastructure is still moving forward.

Three shifts define the current market.

First, institutional positioning has turned decisively negative. Four weeks of Bitcoin ETF outflows, including $1.72 billion this week, have changed the tape.

Second, retail liquidity has collapsed. CEX spot volume at the lowest level since October 2023 means fewer natural buyers are available to absorb supply.

Third, the AI capital cycle is crowding out crypto. As U.S. equities expand and AI policy support grows, Bitcoin must compete for allocator attention in a market where other trades are delivering stronger momentum.

This week will test whether Bitcoin can stabilize after forced selling.

The key macro events are CPI and PPI. If inflation cools, the market may get a relief bid. If inflation remains sticky after the strong jobs report, the Fed repricing could extend.

The second variable is ETF flow. Bitcoin does not need immediate inflows to stop falling, but it needs the pace of outflows to slow. A fifth consecutive large redemption week would confirm that institutional demand remains in retreat.

The third variable is cost-basis absorption. Watch whether Bitcoin can hold the low-$60K area while realized losses remain elevated. If the market absorbs loss-taking without another liquidation cascade, a local base can form.

The fourth variable is AI equity momentum. If AI stocks continue attracting capital, crypto may remain a funding source. If that trade cools, some liquidity could rotate back into Bitcoin.

The market is undergoing a deep reset. Bitcoin’s long-term scarcity thesis remains intact. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said Bitcoin will do well over time, calling this one of many cycles. Saylor echoed the same long-term view, even while acknowledging the AI buildout is absorbing capital.

That is the right framing. Bitcoin is not structurally impaired. Its near-term flow structure is.

For capital allocation, the setup argues for patience and staged exposure. Investors should avoid treating the first bounce as confirmation. The cleaner signal would be a slowdown in ETF redemptions, stabilization in spot-volume delta, and compression in realized losses from the current $1.3 billion per day level.

The sharp thesis is this: Bitcoin is moving from a momentum-led ETF cycle into a forced-absorption phase. Long-term value remains, but the market needs to digest high-cost supply, repair institutional flows and compete with the AI capital cycle before a durable recovery can begin. Until ETF outflows reverse, rallies should be viewed as liquidity tests. Accumulation belongs in tranches, not all at once.