Bitcoin Falls Below $60,000: US Miners Forced to Sell Amid Economic Pressure

• Crypto market analysts attribute the price decline more to Bitcoin miner capitulation than the Mt. Gox news. The BTC price has recovered back to $61,500.
• Bitcoin miners are now financially precarious, having to sell BTC due to economic pressure. This miner centralization has a significant impact on Bitcoin’s price.

Earlier today, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), took a strong plunge under the crucial support level of $60,000, dropping all the way to $58,000 before recovering again. This development came a few hours after defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox announced its plans to make BTC repayments starting next week onwards, as reported by Crypto News Flash.

However, some market analysts believe blaming Mt. Gox for it won’t be right here. Rather, the Bitcoin miner capitulation is dragging the BTC price downwards, per the CNF update.

Bitcoin has fallen below the $60,000 mark, putting all US miners in a financially precarious position, according to Dr. Martin Hiesboeck, Head of Research at Uphold Inc. Dr. Hiesboeck explains that miners are now forced to sell all their BTC holdings to cover operational costs, a scenario he warned about in March. Due to miner centralization, their economic actions disproportionately impact Bitcoin’s price.

Additionally, all ETF investors are currently facing losses. Dr. Hiesboeck anticipates that Bitcoin could drop to $48,000 if these investors capitulate. He clarified that this decline is unrelated to the Mt. Gox repayments or the sale of seized BTC in Germany.

Bitcoin dips below 60k. All US miners are now in the red. They have to continue selling all $BTC to make ends meet. This is the worst case scenario we described in March. because of miner centralization, their actions and economic planning have an outsized effect on the price…

— Dr Martin Hiesboeck (@MHiesboeck) June 24, 2024

Analyzing Bitcoin Miner Action Through Hash Ribbons

Bitcoin’s hashprice has now dropped to approximately $0.04/Th/Day, approaching the all-time low experienced post-halving, according to Dr. Martin Hiesboeck. With hashprice dipping below $0.05, miners face increasing financial strain. The summer miner capitulation, highlighted in last week’s newsletter, continues, with mining difficulty projected to decrease by another ~4.75% at the next adjustment.

The Hash Ribbons indicator, which tracks miner capitulations, shows the 30-day moving average of hashrate (green line) falling below the 60-day (orange line), indicating miners shutting down machines due to unprofitability or energy curtailments. This trend is ongoing as the 30-day average continues to decline.

Hash Ribbons also help identify potential local bottoms in Bitcoin’s price. When many miners are unprofitable, they increase sell pressure by offloading BTC to cover expenses and possibly even their treasury. This forced capitulation can lead to a relief in sell pressure, historically creating local price bottoms. Hiesboeck emphasizes the beauty of this true free market dynamic, noting the absence of bailouts for unprofitable Bitcoin miners.

Miner bloodbath: #Bitcoin is slipping and sliding into the lower $60,000’s (a drawdown that percentage wise is very typical for bull markets). Consequently, hashprice is now at ~$0.04/Th/Day, pushing towards the all-time low it made in the aftermath of the halving.

With… pic.twitter.com/cMonoqnBlF

— Dr Martin Hiesboeck (@MHiesboeck) June 25, 2024

As reported by Crypto News Flash, Bitcoin ETFs registered massive outflows in the past week, and this continues today, with Bitcoin ETFs seeing another $170 million worth of outflows on Monday.