Bitcoin Price Crash Drags BTC Below $65,000 as Fear Gauge Spikes

• Bitcoin’s price crash pushed the cryptocurrency below $65,000 on Tuesday, its lowest level in more than two months, after Strategy disclosed its first Bitcoin sale in nearly four years.
• The selloff triggered more than $1.23 billion in crypto liquidations and sent an options-derived volatility gauge to its sharpest jump since the February 5 crash.
• Economist Peter Schiff asked whether the drop is a “harbinger” of wider trouble in risk assets, while analyst Crypto Lens argued Bitcoin may need to fall to $42,000 before a fresh rally.

Bitcoin’s price crash deepened on Tuesday, dragging the world’s largest cryptocurrency below $65,000 for the first time in more than two months and sending a closely watched volatility gauge to its biggest jump since the February 5 selloff. Bitcoin fell more than 6% on the day, trading near $66,300 and sitting more than 47% below its October 2025 record near $126,000.

The latest leg down followed a disclosure from Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, which reported to the SEC that it sold 32 Bitcoin between May 26 and May 31 at an average price of $77,135. The sale, Strategy’s first in nearly four years, broke chairman Michael Saylor’s long-stated refusal to part with the company’s holdings and rattled traders, even though the 32 coins represent roughly 0.004% of its 843,706 BTC.

Peter Schiff, the economist and longtime Bitcoin critic, used the decline to question Bitcoin’s standing among risk assets.

“I wonder if a Bitcoin crash will be a harbinger of things to come in risk assets in general, or if it’s just a one-off thing confined to Bitcoin and crypto,” Schiff wrote on X.

What’s Driving the Bitcoin Price Crash

The drop forced widespread leverage out of the market. More than $1.23 billion in crypto positions were liquidated, with roughly $1.09 billion of that coming from long bets. Bitcoin’s market capitalization briefly slipped below $1.4 trillion as the wider crypto market fell about 4%.

Several pressures converged at once. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs extended a redemption streak that has pulled more than $3 billion from the funds, with BlackRock’s IBIT product shedding over $2.4 billion since May 18, based on flow data tracked this week. The defunct Mt. Gox estate also moved roughly $739 million in Bitcoin from cold wallets, its first on-chain activity in over two months, according to Arkham Intelligence. Macro conditions added strain, as sticky inflation, doubts over Federal Reserve rate cuts, a stronger dollar, and renewed U.S.-Iran tensions pushed investors toward cash and gold.

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Schiff’s bearishness is not new. In February, he warned that a break below $50,000 would make a slide to $20,000 “highly likely,” a forecast that drew sharp backlash on X from holders citing his long record of failed crash calls. Technical analysts have floated their own downside targets. Crypto Lens argued that Bitcoin may need one final move toward $42,000, framed as a cycle-transition bottom, before a new bull run toward fresh highs above $126,000.

Not every read is bearish. Some traders point to oversold momentum readings and Bitcoin’s historically positive June returns as reasons the bottom may be close. For now, the market sits split between those treating the crash as a healthy reset and those bracing for a deeper unwind.

Editorial Note: This news article has been written with assistance from AI. Edited & fact-checked by the Editorial Team.

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