Bitcoin Starts The Week Deep In The Red
Bitcoin enters the new week under heavy pressure, and all eyes are on the May CPI inflation report due Wednesday. After a steep slide through the back half of last week, BTC is now trading near $60,000 to $61,000, down more than 50 percent from its October 2025 record high near $126,000. The drop has pushed price below its 200-week moving average, a level that many long-term holders watch closely, and the Crypto Fear and Greed Index is sitting firmly in Extreme Fear.
The move has been mechanical as much as emotional. Bitcoin lost the $70,000 zone early last week, then accelerated lower as leveraged long positions were force-closed. At one point more than $1.1 billion in positions were liquidated within a single day, with the large majority being long bets. When too many traders borrow to bet on higher prices and the market falls instead, those positions get sold automatically, which adds fuel to the decline. That is the kind of cascade that played out into the weekend.
Spot trading volume has also thinned out to its lowest level in around two and a half years, which means moves can be sharper in both directions when liquidity is this light.
The Hot Jobs Report Changed The Story
The single biggest macro driver was Friday’s US jobs report. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 172,000 in May, far above the roughly 80,000 that economists expected, and the figures for March and April were revised higher by a combined 93,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent, and wage growth came in at 3.4 percent over the year.
On the surface, a strong job market sounds like good news. For risk assets like Bitcoin, the read is more complicated. A labor market this resilient gives the Federal Reserve little reason to rush into cutting interest rates. That strengthens the higher for longer story, where rates stay elevated, liquidity stays tight, and the US dollar stays firm. Tighter liquidity and a stronger dollar tend to pull money away from volatile assets, and crypto sits at the far end of that risk curve.
So the market entered last weekend with a clear shift in tone. The hope earlier in the year was that softer data would open the door to rate cuts. Friday’s report pushed that hope further out, and Bitcoin felt it immediately.
ETF Outflows And Corporate Selling Add To The Pressure
Two other forces are weighing on the market. The first is the record run of outflows from US spot Bitcoin ETFs, which has been the worst stretch since these products launched in early 2024. When investors pull money out of these funds, the funds have to sell real Bitcoin to return that cash, so the outflows translate into genuine selling pressure rather than just sentiment.
The second is corporate selling. Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, recently confirmed its first Bitcoin sale since 2022. The amount was small relative to its total holdings, and the proceeds were used to cover obligations on its preferred stock, but the signal carried weight. A company known for buying and holding through every cycle showing any willingness to sell tends to shake confidence in an already nervous market.
The Main Event: May CPI On Wednesday
This week is shorter on jobs data but heavy on inflation, and the calendar builds toward one release that matters more than the rest.
The May Consumer Price Index lands on Wednesday, June 10, at 8:30 AM ET. This is the most important number of the week. April inflation was already running hot at around 3.8 percent over the year, comfortably above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target, and the market wants to know whether that pressure is easing or sticking.
The timing makes it even more sensitive. The Federal Reserve meets next week on June 16 and 17, and the central bank is now in its quiet period, meaning no officials will speak publicly to steer expectations. That leaves the CPI print to do the talking, and it will heavily shape what the market expects from the Fed.
Key Events This Week
- Monday, June 8: Quiet start as markets digest Friday’s strong jobs report
- Tuesday, June 9: NFIB Small Business Optimism, 3-year Treasury note auction
- Wednesday, June 10: May CPI inflation (8:30 AM ET), 10-year Treasury note auction
- Thursday, June 11: May Producer Price Index, weekly jobless claims, 30-year Treasury bond auction
- Friday, June 12: University of Michigan consumer sentiment (preliminary), Aptos token unlock
Why The May CPI Print Matters For Bitcoin
The logic for Bitcoin is fairly clean this week.
If CPI comes in hotter than expected, it reinforces the idea that inflation is sticky and the Federal Reserve has no room to ease. That supports higher rates, a firmer dollar, and tighter liquidity, which has been the exact backdrop punishing Bitcoin. A hot print on top of Friday’s strong jobs report would be a difficult combination for risk assets.
If CPI comes in cooler than expected, it gives the market room to breathe. Softer inflation would revive the argument that the Fed can stay patient or eventually cut later in the year, and that is the scenario that would give Bitcoin the best chance to stabilize and attempt a bounce from oversold levels.
The hardest outcome would be sticky inflation paired with any sign of a slowing economy, since that raises the specter of stagflation, a mix of weak growth and stubborn prices that leaves the Fed with few good options. For now, the market is leaning defensive into the release.
Bonds, The Dollar, And Thin Summer Liquidity
The bond market is the channel to watch alongside CPI. There are Treasury auctions across the week, with 3-year, 10-year, and 30-year sales spread from Tuesday through Thursday. Weak demand at these auctions can push yields higher, and rising yields usually tighten financial conditions and pressure Bitcoin further by making safer assets more attractive. Strong demand would do the opposite.
It is also worth remembering that summer liquidity tends to be lighter, and with spot volumes already near multi-year lows, the market is more prone to sharp swings around scheduled events. The CPI release on Wednesday is the most likely catalyst to break Bitcoin out of its current range in either direction.
Ethereum And Altcoins Stay Under Pressure
Ethereum remains weaker than Bitcoin on a relative basis, trading near $1,600 after its own stretch of ETF outflows and soft network activity. When the largest altcoin struggles, the broader altcoin market usually struggles with it, and the current risk-off mood has left most majors well below their highs for the year. Until inflation data and ETF flows turn more supportive, the path of least resistance for the broader market remains cautious.
Token Unlocks
This is a relatively light week for major unlocks. The standout event is Aptos, while most of the larger monthly releases are clustered into the following week. Large unlocks add fresh supply to the market, which can create short-term volatility when demand is soft.
Aptos (APT)
- Date: June 12
- Allocation: Community
- Approximate Tokens: 11 to 12 million APT
- Note: Released through Aptos’ regular monthly vesting schedule
Beyond Aptos, the rest of this week is made up of smaller linear releases that drip into circulation gradually rather than in a single large event, so the immediate supply impact is more muted.
Looking Ahead To Next Week
The heavier wave of unlocks arrives the week after, with several major names scheduled around the middle of the month. Traders watching supply pressure will be keeping an eye on Arbitrum, Starknet, Sei, ZKsync, and ApeCoin, which tend to release on their regular monthly schedules in that window. Because exact dates and values shift with price, it is worth confirming each event on a live unlock tracker closer to the time.
The Week Ahead In One Line
Bitcoin starts the week near $61,000 and below its 200-week moving average, weighed down by a hot jobs report, record ETF outflows, and corporate selling. The next major move likely depends on Wednesday’s CPI inflation print and whether it eases or extends the higher for longer story heading into next week’s Federal Reserve meeting.
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This article is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as financial advice. Always do your own research before making any trading decision. For more simple crypto market explainers, visit the Millionero blog, and explore crypto trading through Millionero.