Bitcoin’s slide deepened on Wednesday, with the price dropping as low as $61,300 for the first time since February, extending one of the most turbulent periods for the world’s largest cryptocurrency this year.
The price is down more than 25% from its high earlier this month and over 30% since the start of the year, making 2026 one of Bitcoin’s weakest years in recent memory relative to other major risk assets.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin has bounced slightly and is trading around $63,000.
What makes the current sell-off particularly significant is not just its scale but its source.
According to several analysts tracking the blockchain, long-term holders — typically defined as investors whose Bitcoin has remained unmoved for at least 155 days — are selling aggressively after remaining largely dormant from February through April.
In the first few days of June, these holders offloaded roughly $2.4 billion (€2.1bn). A notable portion came from investors who had bought Bitcoin above $90,000, a cohort that had largely resisted selling even as prices ground lower for months.
The sell-off has also spread to the derivatives market. Crypto derivatives analytics company Volmex’s 30-day implied volatility index BVIV climbed to 57.4, its highest reading since early April, as traders rushed to buy protective options.
Meanwhile, US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their thirteenth consecutive day of outflows on Wednesday, with investors pulling a further $50 million (€43mn) from the funds, which are widely viewed as a barometer of investor appetite for the cryptocurrency.
Crypto regulation faces fresh uncertainty
Bitcoin’s market troubles are unfolding against an equally turbulent backdrop in Washington, where the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act), a key priority for the cryptocurrency industry, is struggling to pass in the US Senate.
The bill, which would set out rules for the digital asset industry by dividing oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), won approval from the Senate Banking Committee in a narrow bipartisan vote on 14 May.
However, the bill still faces hurdles. While the Senate Banking Committee, which oversees the SEC, has approved the legislation, it must still be reconciled with a separate version from the Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees the CFTC. Significant disagreements between the two committees remain unresolved.
The legislative calendar is the industry’s most pressing problem.
Only about eight weeks of Senate floor time remain before lawmakers leave for the summer recess and turn their attention to midterm election campaigning. The bill could require as much as a full week of that limited time.
It is competing for attention alongside several must-pass bills, including measures on surveillance powers, immigration funding, housing reform and a farm bill.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged senators on Wednesday to pass the CLARITY Act before the summer recess. Speaking before the Senate Finance Committee, he said he looked forward to the bill’s passage and described it as part of efforts to make the US “the innovation capital of the world”.
The bill’s path is further clouded by a public disagreement between the banking industry and the crypto sector over stablecoin regulation.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has been among the most vocal critics, arguing that stablecoin issuers would gain an unfair advantage if they are allowed to offer yield-bearing products without meeting the same regulatory standards as banks.
“If you want to be a bank, be a bank,” Dimon stated in a Fox Business interview. The American Bankers Association, community banks and credit unions have all aligned with that position.
US Senator Cynthia Lummis, who chairs the Senate’s digital assets subcommittee, struck a more optimistic tone, writing on social media on Tuesday that lawmakers were “closer to a functioning digital asset market structure than we have ever been.”
Whether lawmakers can overcome both a crowded legislative calendar and divisions within the industry remains unclear.