Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen below the key support level of $70,000 U.S. as the selloff in cryptocurrencies worsens.
Early on June 2, Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was trading at $69,250 U.S., down 3% over the last 24 hours and its lowest level in more than a month.
The slide lower was prompted by news that Strategy (MSTR), the largest crypto treasury firm in the world, had sold some of its Bitcoin holdings for the first time in four years.
A regulatory disclosure showed that Strategy sold 32 Bitcoin over the past week for proceeds of $2.5 million U.S.
Strategy’s Executive Chairman Michael Saylor had previously said the company had no plans to sell its BTC holdings.
Analysts said the sale by Strategy has shaken investor confidence in digital assets, accelerating the selloff in crypto.
Other major cryptocurrencies are also in the red to begin June, with Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL) and XRP (XRP) each continuing to decline.
The crypto market experienced its first decline in several months in May, with Bitcoin dropping 4% during the month, as investors moved away from the asset class.
Analysts say that both retail and institutional investors are increasingly moving capital to stocks of artificial intelligence (A.I.) companies and away from crypto.
The ongoing war in Iran, rising crude oil prices, and the prospect of higher for longer interest rates have investors rethinking their risk tolerance, say analysts.
Consequently, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the spot price of Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to experience record outflows as institutions in particular sell out of the funds.
There had been hope that the downturn in cryptocurrencies that began last October was close to ending after Bitcoin and other digital assets experienced growth in March and April this year.
But those hopes now appear dashed as the selloff returns and gains momentum.
