Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 for the first time since February 2026 after US nonfarm payrolls came in at 172,000 for May, more than double the 85,000 consensus. The strong jobs data cut rate-cut expectations, and risk assets sold off across the board.
Six Straight Losing Days
Bitcoin has now posted six consecutive red daily candles. The intraday drop reached 5%, with prices touching $60,300 at session lows. Per TradingView data, BTC has given back more than the entire April and May rally combined.
Friday's session wiped out $335 million in leveraged long positions. Across the 15-day ETF outflow streak, spot Bitcoin ETFs bled $5.1 billion in net redemptions. A small $3 million inflow on Thursday looked like a pause, not a trend change.
Trader Daan Crypto Trades summed it up on X: six red candles, down more than April and May combined, and the "stairs up, elevator down" pattern that marks larger bear trends.
Why the Jobs Report Hit Crypto Hard
The labor market data left little room for a dovish read. May added 172,000 jobs against a consensus of 85,000. April was revised up by 64,000. Trading resource The Kobeissi Letter called it the second strongest report in 13 months.
Strong payrolls reduce the chance the Fed moves toward rate cuts anytime soon. Without cheaper capital, appetite for risk assets stays restrained. Crypto bulls counted on monetary easing in H1 2026. That bet has not paid off.
Tech stocks added pressure. Broadcom (AVGO) fell 12.6% after cutting its AI chip sales forecast for H2 2026, erasing $280 billion in market value in one session. Bitcoin tracked Nasdaq 100 futures throughout the day. The market treats BTC as a risk asset, not a safe haven.
$2.6 Billion in Shorts Sitting in a Trap
As bulls got liquidated, bears piled into short positions. CoinGlass data shows $2.6 billion in shorts clustered between $63,000 and $66,000. A move into that range forces automatic short closures, accelerating upward price action.
The numbers show an asymmetry. A further drop to $57,000 would liquidate roughly $1.2 billion in long positions. A recovery to $66,000 puts $2.6 billion of shorts at risk. The potential squeeze is nearly double the size of the potential down-cascade.
Bitcoin perpetual futures funding rates have gone negative at -2% annualized. Normal funding sits between 6% and 12%. This tells us bulls have largely exited leveraged positions. When sellers run dry, even a minor push higher starts closing short positions in sequence.
"Price is still under controlled selling, but funding is getting almost into negative and the Coinbase discount is decreasing. Early signs of seller exhaustion."
- Exitpump, trader, post on X, June 5, 2026
Seller Exhaustion Signals Worth Watching
The Coinbase Premium (the spread between BTC/USD on Coinbase and BTC/USDT on Binance) narrowed during Friday's session. This reading historically reflects reduced selling pressure from US institutional players. Those who were actively selling are running low on supply.
Trader Morin noted that BTC was testing a key range low near $60,000. He expects a possible brief dip below the level before recovery. A daily close above $62,000 would be the first sign that selling is slowing.
Fifteen days of ETF outflows drained $5.1 billion from the market. The $3 million Thursday inflow showed institutions have not fully walked away. Given the current short positioning, even a modest reversal in ETF flows could trigger a sharp move higher.
Key Levels and What Comes Next for BTC
Bitcoin is sitting between two critical zones. Below $60,000, the path leads to $57,000 and another $1.2 billion in liquidations. Above $62,000, sellers lose control. Above $66,000, the $2.6 billion short squeeze fires.
Fifteen days of ETF outflows have left the market oversold. Those looking to sell Bitcoin for hryvnias in Ukraine see BTC at four-month lows. For buyers who have been waiting for a dip, $60,000 is becoming a level worth watching.
The next catalysts are US inflation data and Fed commentary. Until then, BTC stays in a narrow range where $60,000 is the psychological line in the sand for both sides.
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