Bitcoin Drops Below $60,000 Amid Rate Hike Fears and Zcash Vulnerability
Bitcoin fell below $60,000 for the first time since 2024, trading at $59,909, down 6% on the day and 18.5% over the week. Ethereum dropped 23% to $1,555, and Solana fell 22% to $63.75. Bitcoin has now declined over 52% from its all-time high of $126,080 in October. The sell-off intensified after strong U.S. jobs data (172,000 jobs added in May) fueled expectations of interest rate hikes, which typically pressure risk assets like Bitcoin. Additionally, Zcash developers disclosed a critical vulnerability that could have allowed unlimited minting of ZEC, though it's uncertain if exploited. ZEC crashed over 40% in 24 hours. The incident raised fears that AI could uncover exploits in other major assets. Meanwhile, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs broke a 13-day outflow streak Thursday with $3 million inflows, but overall flows remain negative in 2026. Stock markets also fell, with Nasdaq down 2.5% and crypto-related stocks like Strategy and Coinbase dropping 10% and 8.4% respectively.
Key facts
- Bitcoin fell below $60,000 for the first time since 2024, down 18.5% in a week.
- Strong US jobs data fueled rate hike expectations, pressuring Bitcoin.
- Zcash patched a critical bug; ZEC crashed over 40% in 24 hours.
- US spot Bitcoin ETFs broke 13-day outflow streak with $3 million inflows.
- Crypto stocks like Strategy (MSTR) and Coinbase (COIN) also plunged.