Bitcoin regained the $61,000 level in Asian morning hours on Saturday after briefly falling below $60,000 overnight, stabilizing after a strong US jobs report on Friday triggered a sharp sell-off in stocks, bonds and cryptocurrencies.
The token fell as low as $59,227 before buyers came back in, and was trading around $61,000, down about 1.3% on the day.
The bounce occurred at a level that traders had been watching closely. Bitcoin had been falling towards $60,000 all week on a record streak of ETF outflows and Strategy’s first bitcoin sale since 2022 wiped out buyers who had supported the price. The break below the round number overnight did not turn into a deeper breakout, and the token recovered over $1,500 from the low.
The sell-off that fueled the decline began outside of cryptocurrencies. Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report was strong, and rather than celebrating the strength, markets sharply repriced the Federal Reserve’s outlook. Swaps now fully price in a rate hike by the end of 2026, a reversal of cuts expected under newly confirmed Chairman Kevin Warsh. Two-year Treasury yields rose 12 basis points to 4.16%, the dollar rose and risk assets fell.
The damage was worst in the AI trade. The Nasdaq 100 sank about 5%, its steepest drop since April 2025, and a gauge of chipmakers fell 10%. The S&P 500 fell 2.6% and failed to complete its 10th consecutive weekly gain.
Other tokens remain in the red for the week. Ether is down 21.6% in seven days to around $1,575, Solana is down 23.7% to $63, and XRP, dogecoin, and BNB are down between 13% and 20%. Hyperliquid’s HYPE, which outperformed during most of the recent hemorrhage, is down 9.9% in the same stretch.
The loss of leverage was considerable. According to CoinGlass, around $1.6 billion in positions were liquidated in 24 hours among approximately 308,000 traders, with long positions accounting for $1.21 billion. Bitcoin recorded liquidations of $534 million and Ethereum of $423 million, while Zcash, amid its own 44% collapse linked to a bug revealed in its Orchard privacy group, recorded another $115 million.
With $60,000 pierced overnight but quickly recovered, the question is whether Bitcoin can take advantage of the bounce or if the level gives way on a retest. A clear break below it would return the token to the territory it last traded during the February drawdown.
