11:18 UTC — Risk off friday, bitcoin slips below $60,000 as tech stocks and chip names pull back

Friday's pre market session sees Bitcoin trading below $60,000, down less than 1%. Gold and silver are both posting modest gains, with gold holding above $4,000 per ounce and silver above $58. The US Dollar Index (DXY) is trading above 101, adding pressure to risk assets, including technology stocks, with the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) down 1%.

Meanwhile, high flying semiconductor names Micron Technology ( MU ) and Sandisk ( SNDK ) are both down around 5%, following strong rallies in the previous session, where Micron gained 15% and Sandisk ( SNDK ) climbed 20%.

09:59 UTC — Bitmine Immersion Technologies set to join the Russell 1000

Bitmine Immersion Technologies ( BMNR ) is set to join the Russell 1000 Index on June 26, the Ethereum treasury company.

Inclusion in the index is expected to increase institutional ownership, as many ETFs and funds tracking the Russell 1000 will add BMNR to their portfolios.

The company reported to hold 5.673 million ETH, $601 million in cash and marketable securities, $350 million in preferred equity (BMNP), no debt, and an annualized staking yield of $233 million.

Bitmine shares are down 93% from its July 2025 high

08:42 UTC — Michael Saylor says volatility tests every capital structure as MSTR slides

Executive Chairman of Strategy (MSTR) Michael Saylor took to X, writing: "Volatility tests every capital structure. Strategy remains focused on Bitcoin, disciplined capital allocation, credit quality, and long-term value creation. We appreciate our investors and will continue to execute with transparency and resolve."

The comments come as Strategy's shares extend Thursday's selloff in Friday's premarket trading, after falling 9% in the previous session to around $85, leaving the stock more than 85% below its November 2024 all-time high. Meanwhile, the company's perpetual preferred stock, STRC, is trading near $75, about 25% below its intended $100 par value, highlighting mounting pressure across Strategy's capital structure.

08:24 UTC — Major tokens are on track for third straight quarterly decline

Major cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP, and Solana ( HSDT ) are on track to post their third consecutive quarterly loss, a feat last seen during previous bear markets.

As of this writing, BTC is down roughly 12% for the June quarter after declining 23% and 22% in the two preceding quarters. A similar three-quarter downtrend was last seen in 2022, a year marked by the collapse of several crypto funds and projects, including FTX.

Ether, the second-largest token, is down 25% for the June quarter, while XRP and SOL are down 22% and 16%, respectively. Meanwhile, HYPE and ZEC were among the few tokens posting strong gains in the lead-up to the end of June, with both up over 60%. Near Protocol’s NEAR was also up more than 50%.

08:12 UTC — Bitcoin and ether ETFs both posted six straight days of outflows

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs shed $696 million on Thursday, extending the run to six consecutive days of net redemptions. U.S. spot ether ETFs lost $81.9 million the same day, also their sixth straight day of outflows, per SoSoValue data.

The bitcoin bleed was broad. BlackRock's ( BLK ) IBIT, the largest fund, accounted for $63 million of the outflows, Fidelity's FBTC shed $3.5 million, and Grayscale's funds lost a combined $23 million. No fund posted meaningful inflows.

Among ether ETFs, BlackRock's ( BLK ) ETHA led with $63 million in outflows, and only Bitwise's ETHW posted any inflow, a negligible $557,000. Total ether ETF assets have fallen to $8.3 billion, down from $10 billion at the start of the month.

07:58 UTC — Tether overtook ether to become the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization

Tether's USDT stablecoin briefly overtook ether to become the second-largest cryptocurrency by fully diluted market value earlier Friday, according to CoinGecko.

USDT reached $191.5 billion against ether's $187.5 billion after ETH fell 5.5% in 24 hours, leaving bitcoin the only asset ahead of the dollar-pegged stablecoin.

The milestone is less about Tether gaining ground and more about ether losing it. Ether is down more than 7% on the week as the broader crypto selloff has hit altcoins harder than bitcoin.

05:27 UTC — Over $1 billion in crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours as longs got flushed

More than $1 billion in crypto positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, per CoinGlass, with longs accounting for $842 million of the damage. About 148,500 traders were wiped out. The largest single position was a $38 million bitcoin-dollar bet on Hyperliquid. Bitcoin led at $489 million in liquidations, ether at $295 million.

Bitcoin is trading near $59,750 on Friday morning, down 2.8% on the day and back in the $58,000 to $62,000 range it has churned through all week, per CoinDesk data.

The 24-hour low hit $58,188, uncomfortably close to the levels where another $1.6 billion in leveraged long positions are clustered, per CoinGlass.

Today's quarter-end options expiry is the live catalyst.

A large volume of options contracts expire simultaneously at quarter-end, which can amplify moves in either direction as traders close or roll positions. How bitcoin exits the session today is likely to set the tone heading into July.

05:10 UTC — BTC recovers to $60,000 as Asian stocks tank

Bitcoin (BTC) has bounced from overnight lows amid a renewed slide in Asian equity markets.

The leading cryptocurrency by market value traded at around $59,800 as of this writing, up 2.7% from the low of $58,206 hit Thursday, according to CoinDesk data. Still, prices are down over 5% this week and nearly 20% for the month.

"Bitcoin has pulled back into the $50–60K zone, and if history is any guide, this is where buyers step in," Gabe Selby, head of research at CF Benchmarks, said. 

Selby explained that this zone was first established as support in mid-2024, when prices consolidated in this range following the U.S. spot ETF launch rally, and it's held through everything thrown at it since: the yen carry unwind, the election cycle, and every other high-time-frame retest.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks are under pressure, with South Korea's Kospi index down 8% and Japan's Nikkei losing 3%. The losses follow overnight risk aversion on Wall Street where shares in Apple and other Mag7 stocks cratered after announcing price hikes for laptops, tablets and other products citing rising costs.