What next for BTC prices as Bitcoin slides below $70,000 on Strategy's sale - CoinDesk

ShareShare this articleCopy linkX iconX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailBitcoin drops below $70,000 as stocks pause and Strategy's BTC sale weighs on cryptoBTC fell 3.8% in 24 hours to below $69,960 , the lowest level in weeks, as Monday's 8-K filing disclosing Strategy's first publicized bitcoin sale continued to weigh.By Shaurya MalwaUpdated Jun 2, 2026, 7:45 a.m. Published Jun 2, 2026, 5:09 a.m. 2 min readMake preferred on What to know: Bitcoin fell below $70,000 on Tuesday, extending a weeklong slide as markets digested Strategy’s first disclosed bitcoin sale and broader risk assets paused near record highs.Strategy sold 32 bitcoins for $2.5 million to fund preferred stock distributions, a move seen as symbolically important even though it is small relative to the company’s overall holdings.With bitcoin ETF flows still negative and no clear bullish catalyst in sight, bitcoin is trading at its lowest level in weeks even as select tokens like Hyperliquid’s HYPE outperform.Bitcoin BTC$66,877.15 extended its slide on Tuesday, dropping more than 3.8% in 24 hours to dip below $70,000, as the aftermath of Strategy's first disclosed bitcoin sale weighed on the market while stocks paused at record highs and oil pushed further on the stalled U.S.-Iran ceasefire negotiations. BTC fell to as low as $69,648 and was recently trading just above $70,000, CoinDesk data show. Ether (ETH) hovered just below $2,000 at $1,996, DOGE$0.09379 sat flat at $0.10, XRP fell 2.75% to $1.26 and Solana's SOL slipped 1.17% to $79.66. Monday's 8-K filing from Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, disclosed the company's first publicized sale of bitcoin in the five years since it began accumulating, with 32 coins sold for $2.5 million at an average price of $77,135 and proceeds earmarked to fund preferred stock distributions. CoinDesk covered the sale extensively on Monday, including the broader funding-stack context behind it and the resulting Polymarket resolution around a $14 million market that debates whether the sale occured in May or June. Stocks eased from all-time highs as investors locked in gains on the AI rally that has dominated markets this year, Bloomberg reported. MSCI's Asia-Pacific equity index fell 0.5%, with South Korea's Kospi sliding 1.8% after its 105% year-to-date run. Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.7%, while Chinese tech bucked the trend with Tencent (0700) jumping 7.5%. Brent crude pared some of Monday's advance but held around $94.40 a barrel as the U.S.-Iran impasse persisted, with Treasuries holding their losses from the prior session on concerns that higher energy costs would force the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer. Iran said it would halt message exchanges with Washington, Tasnim news agency reported. Hyperliquid's HYPE remained the outlier in the top 10 by market value, gaining 24.3% over the past seven days to $73.76 even as bitcoin and ether bled. BTC is now at its lowest level in weeks. With ETF demand still flowing the wrong way and Strategy disclosed as a seller, there is no obvious near-term catalyst for a reversal. UPDATE (June 2, 07:41 UTC): Updates prices as bitcoin drops below $70,000 The AI infrastructure firm secured a grid connection for a planned South Australian campus, with energization targeted for 2028.