What could happen if bitcoin breaks below $60,000

Bitcoin has been losing ground and is fast closing on $60,000 amid record ETF outflows. Deribit regards that level as more than a round-number psychological mark: it is a structural threshold with real consequences for institutions and derivatives market participants, Jean-David Péquignot, Deribit's chief commercial officer, said.

A sizable portion of institutional money — ETF buyers, large holders and short-term speculators — bought bitcoin between $60,000 and $67,000 over the past year. With the largest cryptocurrency now trading in that range, many are at or near their cost basis; further declines would increase unrealized losses and could make holding expensive as AI stocks and other parts of the traditional market rally.

"As price undercuts their cost basis, the resulting unrealized losses may incentivize rushed selling, especially as the opportunity cost of holding BTC rises against a surging AI equity sector," Péquignot said. Derivatives risks could make a downturn self-reinforcing.

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