MarketsShareShare this articleCopy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmail
Bitcoin's price has dropped to its lowest point since April 7, influenced by Strategy's sale, while AI tokens like H and NEAR have surged, and DeFi's total value locked has reached a 20-month low.
By Oliver Knight, Omkar Godbole|Edited by Sheldon Reback Jun 2, 2026, 10:00 a.m. 2 min readMake preferred on
Bitcoin price (CoinDesk Data)Key Points:
- Bitcoin fell below $70,000 for the first time since April 7, with seven of the last eight four-hour candles closing in the red.
- Contrarily, AI tokens like Humanity Protocol (H) and Near Protocol (NEAR) gained over the past 24 hours.
- DeFi is experiencing a decline, with total value locked across all protocols dropping to approximately $78 billion, the lowest since October 2024.
Bitcoin BTC$69,304.97 reached its lowest value since April 7 on Tuesday, falling below the $70,000 mark in a downturn that has sharply intensified since Sunday. The largest cryptocurrency is down more than 2% since midnight UTC, with seven out of the last eight four-hour candles closing red.
This decline was exacerbated by increasing concerns regarding Strategy's (MSTR) bitcoin strategy, particularly after the largest publicly traded bitcoin holder sold $2.5 million worth of the asset. This sale is interpreted as a sign of potential further sales, especially after $30 million worth of BTC was moved to a Coinbase Prime wallet a week ago.
Ether (ETH) mirrored this decline, dropping approximately 1.7% since midnight UTC and remaining below the critical $2,000 level.
However, not all tokens are following the downward trend. Positive sentiment surrounding artificial intelligence is boosting AI-related tokens, with Humanity Protocol (H) increasing by 18% on Tuesday alone, contributing to an impressive 278% surge since May 28.
In contrast, Stellar (XLM) saw a decline of over 6% since midnight, unwinding a previous 102% spike from last month, while both SUI and ETHFI dropped around 3% each.
Derivatives Market Insights
- Bitcoin's open interest (OI) stands at $19.2 billion, showing little change from the previous week, with speculative positions remaining stable.
- Funding rates are positive across various platforms, ranging from 0% to 10% annualized. The three-month annualized basis increased to approximately 3%, up from 2.4% last week, indicating a slight rise in institutional risk appetite.
- Options data presents mixed signals. The put/call volume ratio over the past 24 hours is at 65/35 in favor of calls, but the one-week 25-delta skew has jumped to 17% from 11% last week, highlighting a significant rise in demand for downside protection. Front-end implied volatility (DVOL) has bounced back to 39 from multi-month lows, suggesting that the previous volatility compression has ended.
- According to Coinglass, there were $768 million in liquidations within 24 hours, with a distribution of 84% for longs and 16% for shorts. Notably, BTC ($448 million) and ETH ($92 million) led in notional liquidations. The Binance liquidation heatmap shows $68,600 as a critical liquidation level to observe in the event of further price drops.
Token Performance Overview
- The AI sector is outperforming the overall crypto market as of Tuesday, with Humanity Protocol (H) and Near Protocol (NEAR) seeing gains of 8% and 14.5%, respectively, over the past 24 hours, although NEAR has remained stable since midnight UTC following profit-taking.
- Despite this strength, the AI-focused CoinDesk Computing Select Index (CPUS) has not fully reflected it, losing 1.7% as chainlink LINK$8.7824, the largest component, dragged the index down with a 2.5% decline.
- The DeFi sector presents a contrasting picture. Total value locked (TVL) across all protocols has plummeted to its lowest since October 2024, around $78 billion, after a 1.85% drop in the past 24 hours, indicating that the anticipated liquidity recovery has not yet occurred following a series of hacks.
- CoinMarketCap's "Altcoin Season" index has gained momentum, rising from 38/100 to 45/100 since Monday, diverging from bitcoin's performance.
More For You
Bitcoin's largest ETF selloff hits $3.4 billion as AI stocks rise
By Sam Reynolds|Edited by Shaurya Malwa3 hours agoU.S. spot bitcoin funds have seen cash outflows for 11 consecutive sessions through Monday, marking the longest redemption streak since their 2024 inception, as risk capital shifted towards an AI-driven equity rally.
Key Points:
- Spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. have recorded a significant 11 straight sessions of net outflows totaling around $3.45 billion as bitcoin's price neared $70,000.
- The withdrawals, including $484 million in the latest session, align with a strong risk appetite for AI and semiconductor stocks, highlighted by a 6 percent increase in...