Bitcoin Drops Below $60,000 for First Time Since Trump's 2024 Election Win

It was the number that defined an era. When Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Bitcoin surged past $60,000 and never looked back — rocketing all the way to a peak above $109,000 by January 2025. That rally was the symbol of crypto's political moment, the proof that the industry had finally captured the White House.

On Friday, June 5, 2026, that symbolic level was broken.

Bitcoin fell below $60,000 for the first time since October 2024 — before Trump's election victory — in what Bloomberg called an extension of BTC's reversal "from market darling after the reelection of US President Donald Trump to a casualty of a rapidly changing speculative landscape." The move triggered panic across crypto markets, sparked fierce debate among traders about whether the bottom is in, and produced another brutal round of liquidations in an already bloodied market.

The Drop: How We Got Here

Bitcoin's decline below $60,000 didn't happen overnight. It has been a slow, grinding collapse that has accelerated dramatically in the past two weeks. Here is the full timeline:

• January 19, 2026: Bitcoin peaks near its all-time high above $109,000
• Late May 2026: BTC slides from above $70,000 to $66,000 amid inflation fears, Fed uncertainty, and a strong US dollar
• May 28, 2026: Bitcoin breaks below $73,000 support, triggering nearly $1 billion in long liquidations in 24 hours
• June 3-4, 2026: BTC falls to $64,100 as sticky inflation data and ETF outflows accelerate selling
• June 5, 2026: Bitcoin breaks below $60,000 — its lowest level since October 2024 — as May's blowout jobs report fuels Fed rate hike bets and the broader crypto market crumbles

From its January 2026 all-time high to today's levels, Bitcoin has now lost approximately 45% of its value in less than five months.

What Broke the $60,000 Level?

Several overlapping forces converged on Friday to finally push Bitcoin through the critical $60,000 floor:

The Jobs Report Shock May's nonfarm payrolls report — which showed 172,000 jobs added, nearly double the 88,000 forecast — sent shockwaves through every risk asset class. The strong labor data pushed the probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike by December to 70%, making speculative assets like Bitcoin deeply unattractive. When rates rise, cash and bonds become more appealing than volatile crypto. Capital flows out. Bitcoin falls.

MicroStrategy's First-Ever Bitcoin Sale Perhaps the most symbolically significant development of the entire week: MicroStrategy — the company led by Michael Saylor that became the most famous institutional Bitcoin holder in history, accumulating over 214,000 BTC and making "never sell" a core part of its identity — disclosed its first-ever Bitcoin sale. The amount was relatively small, but the signal was enormous. If MicroStrategy is selling, who isn't?

Record ETF Outflows Spot Bitcoin ETFs — the institutional on-ramp that was supposed to anchor Bitcoin's price with steady institutional demand — posted $3.2 billion in net outflows in May 2026, the worst monthly result of the year. The money that flowed in after Trump's election win is now flowing out, and fast.

Mt. Gox Wallet Movement A large transfer from a Mt. Gox-linked wallet spooked markets already on edge. Mt. Gox — the infamous Bitcoin exchange that collapsed in 2014 with 850,000 BTC stolen — has been in a years-long rehabilitation process. Every time those wallets move, markets fear a massive sell-off from creditors finally receiving their long-awaited repayments.

Whale Selling + Retail Buying = Classic Bear Signal On-chain data from Santiment confirmed a deeply bearish pattern: Bitcoin whales — addresses holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC — dumped 24,602 coins in seven days. Meanwhile, micro traders with tiny wallets were buying. Historically, when whales sell and retail accumulates, price goes down. The smart money was getting out while retail traders bought the dip.

$1.1 Billion Liquidated — The Carnage in Numbers

The break below $60,000 wasn't orderly. It was violent.

• Total liquidations in 24 hours: $1.1 billion
• Dominant position type wiped out: Long positions — traders betting BTC would go up
• Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index: Fell to 25 — deep Fear territory
• Spot ETF monthly outflows (May 2026): $3.2 billion — worst month of the year
• Altcoins below 200-day moving average: 83% of tokens on Binance — among the weakest readings of the entire cycle
• BTC weekly decline: ~12–17%

The altcoin picture is particularly grim. With 83% of tokens now trading below their long-term moving average, this isn't a Bitcoin-specific problem — it's a full crypto bear market in progress.

The Debate: Is This the Bottom?

The question burning through every crypto forum, Discord server, and trading desk right now: is $60,000 the bottom, or is this just a stop on the way lower?

The bull case for a bottom:

• $60,000 is a massive psychological and technical support level — institutions and long-term holders have historically defended it
• The $57,500–$59,000 range represents an even stronger structural support zone
• Bitcoin has historically experienced multiple 30–50% drawdowns during bull cycles before resuming its uptrend
• The April 2024 halving reduced new Bitcoin supply by 50%, and previous halvings suggest the strongest price effects often appear 12–24 months later — meaning late 2025 to mid-2026
• Polymarket gives a 77% probability that BTC finds support around $65,000 this month

The bear case for more pain:

• $60,000 has now been broken — it goes from support to resistance
• The 100-day and 200-day EMAs on the 3-day chart are converging toward a bearish crossover
• Whale selling + ETF outflows + MicroStrategy's first sale = structural selling, not panic
• Fed rate hike odds at 70% mean the macro environment remains hostile to risk assets through the rest of 2026
• Analyst Benjamin Cowen places a probability on a new cycle low in 2026, with October as his base case
• Polymarket shows an 18% chance BTC drops to $57,500 and a 12% chance of $55,000 in June

The Trump Irony: From "Crypto President" to Scapegoat

There is a deep irony running through Bitcoin's current collapse that crypto Twitter has not missed.

Donald Trump ran for re-election in 2024 partly on a pro-crypto platform. He promised to make America the "crypto capital of the world." The Bitcoin community rallied behind him. When he won, BTC surged past $60,000 and eventually hit $109,000. The victory felt total.

Now, 18 months into his second term, Bitcoin is back where it started — below the level it was trading at before his election night win. The crypto regulation bill that was supposed to bring institutional clarity is stalled in the Senate. The TRUMP memecoin has lost 91% of its value. Crypto advocates who donated millions to Trump's campaign are now calling him a "scapegoat" for the market's decline.

Bloomberg's headline captured it with precise cruelty: "Bitcoin Falls Below $60,000 for First Time Since Trump's Reelection."

The "Tired of Winning" meme that has been spreading across crypto Twitter is not just a joke. It is the sound of a community that bet everything on a political narrative and is now watching that bet unwind.

What Happens Next? Key Levels to Watch

For traders trying to navigate the next move, here are the critical price levels:

• $60,000: Broken — now resistance
• $57,500–$59,000: Strong structural support — the next major line of defense
• $55,000: Significant bear case target — Polymarket gives 12% probability in June
• $52,000: Extreme bear case — 7% probability per Polymarket
• $65,000–$68,000: Recovery target — needs to reclaim this zone to shift momentum

The next major catalyst will be the June CPI inflation report due in mid-June. If inflation comes in cooler than expected, rate hike bets will ease, risk appetite will return, and Bitcoin could stage a significant relief rally. If it comes in hot, the selling may have considerably further to go.

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin fell below $60,000 on June 5, 2026 — its lowest level since October 2024, before Trump's election win
• The break triggered $1.1 billion in liquidations in 24 hours — overwhelmingly long positions
• MicroStrategy made its first-ever Bitcoin sale — a massive symbolic shift
• Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $3.2 billion in outflows in May 2026 — worst monthly figure of the year
• A Mt. Gox wallet transfer, whale selling, and the May jobs report all contributed to the crash
• 83% of altcoins on Binance are now below their 200-day moving average
• Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index: 25 — deep Fear territory
• Key support levels: $57,500–$59,000, then $55,000 in a worst-case scenario
• The next major catalyst: June CPI inflation report due mid-June
• Trump's pro-crypto narrative has fully unwound — BTC is back to pre-election levels