Bitcoin and Ethereum faced a tense options expiry on June 5 as crypto markets traded near multi-month lows, while Middle East ceasefire hopes moved oil and gold markets before fresh doubts returned.

About 25,600 Bitcoin options expired on June 5, with a notional value of $1.62 billion, according to Greeks.live data. The batch carried a put-call ratio of 0.56 and a key max pain level near $70,500.

Bitcoin traded far below that level after a sharp weekly slide. BTC briefly approached $60,000 during the selloff, leaving many short-term options away from their expected settlement zones.

Ethereum also faced options expiry pressure. About 155,000 ETH options expired, with a put-call ratio of 0.92, a max pain level near $2,000, and a notional value of $270 million.

Together, BTC and ETH expiries reached about $1.89 billion. The event was smaller than the prior end-of-month expiry, but it came during one of the weakest weeks for digital assets in months.

June 5 Options Data

25,600 BTC options expiring, with a put-call ratio of 0.56, a key support level at $70,500, and a notional value of $1.62 billion.
155,000 ETH options expiring, with a put-call ratio of 0.92, a key support level at $2,000, and a notional value of $270… pic.twitter.com/iDT1vl7faY

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— Greeks.live (@GreeksLive) June 5, 2026

Bitcoin bears dominate as hedging demand rises

Greeks.live said Bitcoin’s drop below $70,000 made bearish traders more active earlier in the week. Put positions increased around $68,000, $65,000, and $60,000 as traders moved to protect against more losses.

The firm said short-term volatility also rose as prices fell. Skew turned negative, meaning the market paid more attention to downside protection than upside exposure.

With the price breaking below 70K, bears have become more aggressive, with significant increases in put positions at 68K, 65K, and 60K. Since last night, total trading volume has risen by 50%, block put trading volume has continued to climb, short-term IV has risen significantly,… pic.twitter.com/RVgwAlanwO

— Greeks.live (@GreeksLive) June 2, 2026

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In its June 5 update, Greeks.live said price action pushed both BTC and ETH far from their max pain levels. It also said weak conditions reduced market interest, while attention moved toward U.S. stocks.

The firm added that the market was not making large one-way crash bets. Instead, it said demand for active hedging had increased. Greeks.live said, “The best strategy is not to gamble on a rebound, but to reduce risk.”

Ceasefire hopes move oil and gold

The crypto selloff also came as global markets reacted to Middle East developments. Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a ceasefire on June 4, raising hopes that pressure around Iran talks could ease.

That news quickly moved commodities. Oil prices fell more than 3% on hopes that a broader deal could support a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil flows.

Gold also reacted as the dollar and bond yields moved lower after the ceasefire reports. The move showed that traders viewed the announcement as a possible step toward lower regional risk.

The relief did not last cleanly. Hezbollah later rejected the agreement, while Israel said it would not withdraw troops from Lebanon. That kept concerns alive around U.S.-Iran talks and energy supply routes.

Crypto market watches capital flows

Crypto markets entered the expiry with weak momentum. Bitcoin hovered near the bottom of its recent range after a slide that erased large gains from the prior week.

Ether also traded under pressure after falling toward 14-month lows. Broader crypto market value dropped sharply during the week as traders cut risk across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and major altcoins.

Separate crypto.news market updates have kept Bitcoin’s $60,000 support zone in focus as traders weigh ETF flows, whale activity, and falling risk appetite. The same backdrop has made options positioning more important for short-term market direction.

For now, the market is watching whether capital returns after the expiry. A move back above $63,000 could ease immediate pressure for Bitcoin, while another break toward $60,000 could keep bearish positioning active into the weekend.

Ethereum faces a similar test below its $2,000 options level. A recovery above that zone would improve short-term sentiment. Failure to regain it could keep sellers focused on lower support areas.

The main question now is whether the expiry clears pressure or confirms deeper weakness. Traders are watching BTC’s $60,000 line, ETH’s $2,000 level, and macro signals from oil, gold, and U.S. stocks.

Reform UK, the Nigel Farage-led party, has tapped into crypto wealth this year, drawing a notable sum from two crypto-focused billionaires, according to Electoral Commission data released this week. The donations total roughly seven million pounds (about $9.4 million) and break down to approximately £4 million from Christopher Harborne — who has a stake in stablecoin issuer Tether — and £5.4 million from Ben Delo, the co-founder of BitMEX. The funds place Reform UK at the forefront of declared political donations among UK parties in the latest reporting period.

Reform UK has positioned itself as pro-crypto, including being the first UK political party to accept donations in Bitcoin. Nigel Farage has floated policy ideas such as cutting crypto capital gains taxes from 24% to 10% and urging the Bank of England to establish a Bitcoin reserve. The broader crypto industry has been evolving into a more aggressive political spender as policymakers plot how best to regulate a rapidly integrated sector. In the United States, crypto-backed political action committees (PACs) have also ramped up spending to back candidates who won primaries ahead of the midterm elections.

Key takeaways

• Reform UK received about £7 million ($9.4 million) in donations this year from two crypto billionaires, with roughly £4 million from Christopher Harborne (a Tether stakeholder) and £5.4 million from Ben Delo (BitMEX co-founder).
• Ben Delo is a first-time donor to Reform UK, while Harborne’s involvement with Reform UK has grown to total about $20 million in donations over the past year.
• The party has promoted a pro-crypto stance, including accepting Bitcoin donations and backing policy ideas that would reshape crypto taxation and central-bank exposure to digital assets.
• First-quarter fundraising for Reform UK rose sixfold compared with the same period last year, a period when the party raised about $2 million. Labour and the Conservative Party each reported roughly $5.4 million in the quarter.
• The broader crypto industry’s political engagement is rising globally, with US crypto PACs backing candidates who achieved primary wins, signaling a growing relationship between crypto wealth and political influence.
• Harborne’s personal gift of $6.7 million to Farage is under parliamentary standards scrutiny, with Farage contending the gift predates his parliamentary tenure and was used for personal security, not campaign financing.

Crypto donors and the trajectory of Reform UK’s fundraising

Electoral Commission filings published this week show Reform UK’s year-to-date fundraising includes a substantial contribution from Christopher Harborne, who holds a stake in the stablecoin issuer Tether, along with a sizable donation from Ben Delo, the co-founder of BitMEX. Together, these donations help explain Reform UK’s outsize presence in early-2026 fundraising data and contrast with the fundraising pace of the two traditional parties, Labour and the Conservative Party, which each reported approximately the same level of receipts in the same period.

The data point to a shifting dynamic in UK political finance, where high-net-worth crypto executives appear willing to back non-establishment parties that articulate a crypto-friendly agenda. Reform UK has explicitly framed itself as approachable to digital-asset interests, a stance reflected in its fundraising and public messaging. The donation from Delo marks a notable moment: he is identified as a first-time donor to Reform UK, underscoring the entry of new crypto philanthropy into UK political donor pools. Harborne, by contrast, has a longer record of contributions to the party, with the combined total of his donations to Reform UK reaching about $20 million over the past year, illustrating how a small number of mega-donors can reshape a party’s financial profile in a short span.

One additional dimension is the controversy surrounding a separate $6.7 million personal gift Harborne provided to Farage. The gift has come under scrutiny by parliamentary standards inquiries to determine whether it should have been registered as a donation. Farage has argued the gift was given before he entered Parliament and was used for personal security, not electoral campaigning. He has also tied the gift to arguments for Brexit, describing it as support for a political outcome that aligns with his longer-running political project. The ongoing standards probe adds a layer of uncertainty about how such contributions should be treated in UK records and what that could mean for future crypto-linked donations.

Beyond the specifics of Reform UK, the Electoral Commission reported that first-quarter fundraising across all parties more than doubled relative to a year earlier, with Reform UK’s trajectory rising sixfold from the prior-year period, which saw about $2 million in donations. In that same quarter, Labour and the Conservative Party each reported roughly $5.4 million in receipts, signaling a broader surge in political giving during the period. The numbers illuminate a moment when crypto wealth is tying itself more directly to mainstream political finance in the UK, not merely as a fringe curiosity but as a plausible force in shaping campaign messaging and policy priorities.

Policy implications and the broader regulatory landscape

Reform UK’s pro-crypto posture aligns with a trend among some political actors to embrace digital assets as both a constituent interest and a potential policy lever. Farage’s proposals—lower crypto capital gains taxes and a potential BoE-backed Bitcoin reserve—mirror a broader debate about how central-bank money and digital assets might interact in a highly digitized financial system. For readers tracking policy risk, these signals suggest that crypto-friendly proposals could gain traction, particularly if the party enhances its fundraising and builds a broader electoral coalition.

From a regulatory standpoint, the influx of large crypto donations raises questions about disclosure, registration, and compliance. The ongoing parliamentary inquiry into Harborne’s sizeable personal gift illustrates the sensitivity around donor transparency and the standards that govern political contributions. The outcome of such inquiries could influence how crypto wealth is treated in future cycles, potentially prompting tighter oversight or, conversely, clearer pathways for crypto magnates to contribute without triggering extra hurdles. As policymakers in the UK and elsewhere weigh how to regulate a rapidly evolving sector, campaign finance dynamics will remain a focal point for both supporters and skeptics of crypto funding.

The international dimension is also notable. In the United States, crypto-backed PACs have actively backed candidates who won primaries, signaling a pattern of crypto wealth seeking to shape political outcomes more directly. While the UK landscape differs in structure and regulatory regime, the underlying dynamic—wealthy crypto actors seeking electoral influence—echoes across jurisdictions. For investors and builders in the crypto space, this trend underscores the relevance of regulatory clarity and the potential for policy shifts that could affect market access, taxation, and the acceptability of crypto donations as a legitimate political resource.

What to watch next

The coming quarters will reveal whether these large crypto donations translate into policy shifts or concrete changes in campaign messaging. Watch how Reform UK threads its crypto-friendly stance with broader policy positions, and how the ongoing standards inquiry surrounding Harborne’s large gifts affects donor behavior and disclosure norms. Regulators may also respond with clarifications on the boundaries between personal gifts and campaign contributions, which could shape how crypto wealth participates in UK politics going forward. For market participants, the unfolding dynamics offer a reminder that policy clarity and political risk sit alongside technology and adoption cycles as core drivers of long-term value in the crypto space.

Sources: Electoral Commission data on party donations for Q1 2026 and related regulatory filings; coverage of the Harborne gift and parliamentary standards inquiry; broader reporting on crypto-related political spending in the UK and US. Electoral Commission data; Farage gift under parliamentary standards inquiry.

Cardano price fell near $0.16 on June 5 as ADA extended its selloff and reached levels last seen around late 2020, while social activity and on-chain usage rose during the market stress.

Cardano price falls below $0.16

Cardano traded near $0.162 on June 5, according to crypto.news price data. ADA fell 17.9% over 24 hours and lost 30.7% over seven days, while the monthly decline reached 38.29%.

The token moved between a 24-hour low of $0.158433 and a high of $0.198698. Trading volume stood above $1.1 billion as sellers pushed the market toward the lower end of the daily range.

Cardano now holds a market rank of #16, with a market value of about $6.03 billion. Its fully diluted valuation stands near $7.31 billion, based on a maximum supply of 45 billion ADA.

The fall pushed ADA far below its 2021 all-time high of $3.09. The token has also dropped 76.26% over the past year and 67.46% over the past 200 days, showing a long-running downtrend.

Santiment shows social spike during selloff

Santiment said Cardano became one of the most discussed crypto assets after ADA dropped below $0.16. The firm linked the jump in attention to price weakness and rising concern around founder Charles Hoskinson.

According to Santiment, Cardano reached a 2026 high of about 0.52% social dominance. That means more than one in every 190 crypto-related social discussions focused on ADA during the spike.

The same update said daily active addresses rose to 28,459, the highest level in four months. This shows users continued to interact with the network as the selloff increased debate among traders.

🗣️ Cardano has suddenly become one of the most discussed assets in crypto as its price plunged to below $0.16 for the first time since December, 2020. Much of the attention appears to have been driven by growing concerns surrounding founder Charles Hoskinson, who recently… pic.twitter.com/4ipmuiV6eP

— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) June 5, 2026

Santiment described much of the reaction as bearish. However, the firm also said Cardano still has one of crypto’s most vocal communities, with many holders staying active through past market cycles.

Hoskinson concerns add pressure

Recent Cardano weakness also followed renewed attention on Charles Hoskinson. Santiment said discussion increased after Hoskinson said he was “taking a break” following warnings about project shutdowns and funding stress.

I’m taking a break. TTYL

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) June 3, 2026

As crypto.news reported, Hoskinson warned more Cardano businesses could fail after TapTools announced it would shut down. TapTools had operated as a Cardano analytics platform for about four years.

The wider ecosystem has faced governance pressure as well. The Cardano Foundation canceled the 2026 Cardano Summit after a proposal seeking 7.8 million ADA failed to secure enough approval from DReps.

Moreover, crypto.news also reported debate around a separate 32.9 million ADA treasury request linked to Input Output Global research and development work. DRep opposition had climbed above 80% before the vote deadline.

These events place funding, governance, and project survival at the center of the current ADA story. Price weakness has now turned those ecosystem debates into market-moving issues.

ADA technical levels point lower

Ali Martinez said he would target $0.11 and $0.051 for ADA after the latest breakdown. He also said, “I’d be taking a break too if I were him,” while referring to the pressure around Hoskinson.

The technical setup remains weak. ADA broke below the lower Bollinger Band at $0.1845, showing strong downside pressure and an extended bearish move.

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The Bollinger Band midline sits near $0.2316, while the upper band stands around $0.2786. ADA remains far below the midline, which shows buyers have not regained control.

A recovery would need ADA to reclaim the lower band near $0.1845. A stronger rebound would then need a move toward $0.2316 before traders can argue that the trend has improved.

The BBP reading stands at -0.0927, placing price below the lower Bollinger Band. That signals oversold conditions, but it does not confirm a reversal.

For now, sellers still control the chart while ADA remains outside the bands. If $0.158 support fails, traders may focus on Ali’s $0.11 target as the next downside level.

A deeper fall toward $0.051 would require another major breakdown and sustained weak demand. That level remains a lower target, not a confirmed path.

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Cardano’s next move now depends on whether buyers defend the $0.15 to $0.16 zone. Bulls need ADA back above $0.1845 to ease immediate pressure. Bears need another close below the recent low to keep the breakdown active.

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

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US-based AI firm Anthropic warns AI development is advancing at a pace that could soon see agents building, training and improving themselves without human input, and recommends a slowdown in development.

In a blog post published Thursday, Marina Favaro, lead at the Anthropic Institute, and Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark said agents can already run code themselves, delegate hours of work to other agents and could be on the cusp of taking over completely.

“For most of AI’s history, humans drove every step in its development cycle. But at Anthropic, we are delegating a growing share of AI development to AI systems themselves, which is speeding up our work,” they said.

“Taken far enough, and given enough compute, that trend points to an AI system capable of fully autonomously designing and developing its own successor,” Favaro and Clark added. 

AI development is advancing at a pace that could lead to agents improving without human input. Source: Anthropic

There are concerns over what could happen if AI is able to become smarter on its own. In December, OpenAI said it is researching how to safely develop and deploy increasingly capable AI, including AI capable of recursive self-improvement.

“We want these systems to consistently follow human intent in complex, real-world scenarios and adversarial conditions, avoid catastrophic behavior, and remain controllable, auditable, and aligned with human values,” it said.

The company is also hiring a researcher for recursive self-improvement preparedness, which forms part of its Safety Research team.

AI model improvement has been roughly doubling every four months, rather than every seven months, according to Favaro and Clark. The role of humans is narrowing at each step, with Anthropic’s Claude model authoring around 80% of the code merged into Anthropic’s codebase.

“We are not there yet, and recursive self-improvement is not inevitable. But it could come sooner than most institutions are prepared for,” they said.

“Once human- and AI-authored code quality reach parity, humans will stop writing code entirely and shift to only reviewing it. But if they can’t review code as quickly as Claude can generate it, human review will become the bottleneck to AI development,” they added.

Favaro and Clark also said that slowing development to allow more time to address its “immense” implications would be ideal.

Related: Modern robots impress, but are years away from replacing humans

In April, Anthropic ruled out releasing its AI model, Claude Mythos, to the public over concerns about the threat to global cybersecurity. 

Claude Mythos was able to easily create software exploits, leading Anthropic to rule out a public release for now. Source: Anthropic

At the same time, a group of tech leaders, including some from Anthropic and OpenAI, released an open letter on Thursday, urging lawmakers to enact stronger guardrails around the technology over concerns it could be used to overcome “knowledge barriers” that have historically prevented bad actors from creating biological weapons.

“We believe it would be good for the world to have the option to slow or temporarily pause frontier AI development to enable societal structures and alignment research to keep up with the advance of the technology,” Favaro and Clark said.

“But if a slowdown simply lets the least cautious actors catch up technologically, it could leave everyone less safe. Without a global coordination mechanism, companies and governments will have to make difficult decisions about safety while under competitive and geopolitical pressures.”

AI agents are becoming increasingly popular, including among crypto users. Some crypto executives have speculated that AI agents settling transactions could drive adoption and transaction volumes. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire predicted in January that billions of AI agents would operate on users’ behalf within five years.

Crypto investment firm Keyrock reported last month that AI agents settling payments went from concept to reality in the past 12 months, with $73 million settled across 176 million transactions.

Magazine: Korea’s first memecoin rug-pull case, China’s crypto rules review: Asia Express 

Strategy’s leveraged Bitcoin model is stressed, which could limit the firm’s ability to keep buying BTC and potentially force further sales, according to Grayscale.

“The shift in approach from one of the world’s largest BTC holders has weighed on market sentiment,” said Zach Pandl, Grayscale’s head of research, on Thursday. 

Michael Saylor’s Strategy sold 32 BTC on Monday, a tiny fraction of its total holdings of 843,706 BTC, but enough to rattle market sentiment as the asset has tanked by 16% since the sale. 

Strategy also sold $128 million worth of shares, and its stock value has declined by 12.8% since the sale to a two-month low of $126 on Thursday. 

BTC losses accelerated after Strategy sold and STRC declined. Source: Google Finance

Pandl warned this could have a greater impact on Stretch (STRC), the firm’s variable rate preferred equity instrument.

Stretch is designed to trade at a share price of around $100 and pay a dividend of 11.5%, but it is currently trading below that at around $95, meaning investors require a higher rate of return. 

If Strategy raises its dividend to compensate investors, it increases cash obligations, potentially forcing more BTC sales and further price pressure in a negative feedback loop.

“Strategy’s levered business model is under pressure, and this has increased the volatility for the BTC market as a whole,” said Pandl. 

He added that Grayscale thinks that Strategy will have a “limited ability to accumulate more tokens at current share prices for both STRC and MSTR.”

Related: Saylor downplays Bitcoin slide as Strategy faces $11B paper loss

Goldbug Peter Schiff said something similar on X on Thursday. If Strategy is forced to increase the dividend to return STRC to $100, the company “will run out of cash much sooner, pulling forward Bitcoin sales to fund payments.”

Pandl concluded, stating that less Bitcoin in leveraged corporate holdings would be healthier for the broader market and ecosystem.

“For the health of the Bitcoin ecosystem over the long run, less BTC on levered DAT [digital asset treasury] balance sheets and more on diversified corporate balance sheets will be a positive, in our view.”

It’s not all bearish for Saylor’s Strategy

Augustine Fan, partner at crypto software firm SignalPlus, told Cointelegraph on Friday that markets are blaming Strategy’s recent sales and STRC’s discount to par for driving the latest sell-off, “but the reality is that even the most ardent supporters are running out of reason to be structurally bullish.”

“All focus will be on the MSTR situation to see how Saylor manages to handle his liquidity strains by balancing dividend payments against STRC and the DAT holdings.”

Jeff Ko, chief analyst at CoinEx, told Cointelegraph that Strategy’s first Bitcoin sale was an “important psychological trigger” for this week’s selloff. 

However, he said the move was more constructive than the market reaction implied, as it gives the company more flexibility. 

“Greater flexibility around selling Bitcoin can help Strategy manage balance sheet risk more prudently, rather than forcing itself into a one-way accumulation strategy under all market conditions.”

Magazine: Korea’s first memecoin rug-pull case, China’s crypto rules review: Asia Express

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK received 7 million British pounds ($9.4 million) from two crypto billionaires this year, with total funds raised outstripping all other political parties.

The party received a $4 million donation from Christopher Harborne, who has a stake in the stablecoin issuer Tether, and a $5.4 million donation from Ben Delo, the co-founder of the crypto exchange BitMEX, according to Electoral Commission data released on Thursday.

The Labour and Conservative parties each received around $5.4 million in the first quarter of the year. 

Reform UK has pitched itself as a pro-crypto party. It was the first UK political party to accept donations in Bitcoin (BTC), and Farage has proposed cutting capital gains taxes on crypto from 24% to 10%. He has also called for the Bank of England to create a Bitcoin reserve.

The crypto industry has been spending heavily on politics as it seeks to influence policy. In the US, crypto-backed political action committees (PACs) have recently spent millions to successfully back candidates who won primary elections ahead of the country’s midterm elections in November.

Nigel Farage speaking at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas. Source: Gage Skidmore

Delo is a first-time donor to the right-wing populist party, while the latest donations bring Harborne’s total to $20 million in the past year.

Harborne had separately given Farage a $6.7 million personal gift, which is facing a probe by a parliamentary standards inquiry as to whether it should have been registered. 

Related: UK politician Nigel Farage bought $1.8M house after $6.7M crypto gift

Farage has said he didn’t need to declare the money as it was given before he was a member of parliament and was used to pay for personal security. He later claimed the gift was for successfully campaigning for the UK to leave the EU.

Reform’s fundraising in the first quarter has increased sixfold compared to the same time last year, when it received $2 million.

The total funding across all parties for the quarter had also more than doubled compared with a year ago.

Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs: Mid-2026

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

TLDR:

• ZEC dropped 48.4% to $272.79 on Binance following the Orchard pool soundness bug discovery.
• Total ZEC liquidations hit $81.91M in 24 hours, with $70.55M from long positions alone.
• Arthur Hayes sold his entire ZEC position after the Orchard exploit news broke publicly.
• A ZEC whale holding $174M saw holdings lose over $70M in value within a single trading day.

---

Zcash’s native token, ZEC, has dropped 48.4% in 24 hours, trading at $272.79 on Binance. The selloff follows a series of technical emergencies in Zcash’s Orchard shielded pool, including a critical soundness bug and an emergency soft fork.

Liquidations hit $81.91 million, with long positions bearing the bulk of losses at $70.55 million. The crash erased billions in market value and shook confidence in ZEC’s recent bull run.

From Record Highs to Emergency Forks: The ZEC Timeline

Six days ago, ZEC appeared immune to broader market weakness. The token had surged more than 750% and was trading around $540–$560 when a critical soundness bug was discovered in the Orchard pool on May 29.

Shielded Labs uncovered the flaw during a routine audit before any exploit occurred. The find, however, set off a chain of emergency responses that ultimately unwound the rally.

On June 2, developers deployed an emergency soft fork at block 3,363,426. The fork disabled the Orchard pool entirely to prevent a potential double-spend attack.

At that point, ZEC was trading near $587, still holding most of its gains despite the severity of the protocol-level intervention.

By June 3, the NU6.2 hard fork went live, re-enabling Orchard with a patched circuit. Block explorers went dark for roughly four hours during the transition.

Social media was flooded with claims that Zcash was down, though the underlying chain never stopped producing blocks. ZEC pushed higher still, briefly touching $629.

The narrative then shifted sharply on June 4 and 5. Reports spread that Claude Opus 4.8 had in some capacity “broken” Zcash, fueling panic across trading desks.

The crowded long trade began reversing, and ZEC shed more than 30% as leveraged positions unwound rapidly across major exchanges.

The timeline illustrates how quickly sentiment can reverse in crypto markets. A token riding a multi-month rally on privacy narrative strength can lose nearly half its value in under 24 hours once confidence in the underlying protocol wavers.

Arthur Hayes Exits, Whale Absorbs $70M Loss

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes disclosed on X that he had sold his entire ZEC position following the Orchard pool exploit news.

Hayes had previously been one of ZEC’s most vocal proponents, publicly calling for a $10,000 price target. His rapid exit drew wide attention, with traders treating it as a directional signal to cut exposure.

On-chain analytics platform Arkham flagged a notable whale address that held approximately $174 million in ZEC before the crash.

Within 24 hours, the value of those holdings fell to less than half. The whale’s unrealized losses stood at roughly $70 million, with no ZEC sold over the prior six months.

The liquidation data adds further context to the scale of the unwind. CoinGlass recorded $81.91 million in total ZEC liquidations, with $70.55 million coming from long positions. 

Short liquidations accounted for the remaining $11.36 million, reflecting a market that was heavily positioned to the upside heading into the collapse.

Hayes’s exit, combined with his prior sales of HYPE and NEAR, drew commentary on X. One account noted that his so-called “holy trinity” of positions had unwound in under six days, raising questions about broader positioning shifts among prominent crypto traders.

The ZEC crash serves as a reminder that protocol-level vulnerabilities, however quickly patched, can permanently alter market structure around an asset.

Bitcoin BTC$61,875.23 continues to lose ground and the price is fast closing on $60,000 amid record ETF outflows.

The $60,000 level has been widely cited by analysts as a major support, below which the selloff could get even uglier.

Jean-David Péquignot, the chief commercial officer at leading crypto options exchange Deribit said that price is critical not just because it’s a round-number psychological level. More importantly, it’s a structural threshold with real consequences for institutions and derivatives market participants.

The cost basis problem

According to Péquignot, a significant chunk of institutional money — comprising ETF buyers, large holders and short-term speculators — bought bitcoin at prices between $60,000 and $67,000 over the past year.

With the largest cryptocurrency now trading within that range, these buyers are sitting at or near their cost basis, essentially at break-even. If prices drop further, unrealized or paper losses will mount and holding becomes expensive, especially when AI stocks and other parts of the traditional market are rallying like there is no tomorrow.

“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,” he said.

Michael Saylor, the high-profile executive chairman of Strategy (MSTR), the largest publicly traded bitcoin holder, also blamed capital rotation for recent BTC losses.

The derivatives problem

Things become mechanical after that.

On Deribit, there is over $1.2 billion in notional open interest sitting at the $60,000 strike put options, which pay out if prices fall below that level. Investors have bought these as a hedge against a protracted selloff.

The problem, however, is that market makers, who are on the opposite side of the investors, are now short puts, or more precisely, “short gamma.”

So, as BTC nears $60,000, market makers and dealers will be forced to sell spot BTC or futures to balance their books. Other things being equal, this hedging can accelerate the selloff, turning an orderly decline into a chaotic one, Péquignot said.

He also pointed out that there are too many leveraged longs in the system, and a break below $60,000 could lead to more liquidations, adding to downside momentum.

“With leverage still not fully flushed from the system, a break of $60K could rapidly worsen collateral metrics, triggering a cascading wave of automated long liquidations,” he said.

Note that billions of dollars of leveraged longs, or bullish plays tied to BTC and other tokens, have already been liquidated this week.