Bitcoin tumbled to its lowest level since September 2024 on Thursday, dropping to $58,000 as a hot US inflation print rattled stock markets and triggered a wave of forced selling across crypto.
The May Personal Consumption Expenditures index came in at 4.1% year-over-year — a new three-year high. Stripping out food and core, core PCE still rose 3.4%. Stocks reacted fast: the Nasdaq 100 shed 2% in the first 30 minutes of trading.
The selling pressure hit crypto hard. More than $600 million in leveraged long positions were liquidated in a single hour, according to CoinGlass data. BTC touched $58,035 on Bitstamp, a level not seen since September 2024.
Some traders aren’t buying the fundamentals explanation. One pseudonymous trader with a following on X claimed BTC was in a “manipulation phase,” noting that every time it trades below $60,000, there’s heavy order book activity stacked underneath. Others are more straightforward in their bearishness — Niels Klaver, cofounder of crypto platform STABL Agency, suggested BTC is making its “final leg down” with $55,000 as the target.
One thing that stands out: this price action looks a lot like 2022. The pattern of lower highs, sharp selloffs, and cascading liquidations is eerily similar. Whether it plays out the same way remains to be seen, but the parallels are hard to ignore.
