Bitcoin Ended Q2 Down 11%: These 3 Factors Are to Blame

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) ended the year’s second quarter down roughly 11% as ETF outflows, Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR ) buying, and stablecoin supply all weakened at the same time.

Bitcoin Rallied To $82,000 In April Then Reversed Hard Crypto entered Q2 with momentum, with Bitcoin and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) both climbing roughly 20% from early April as geopolitical anxiety briefly eased and institutional demand improved.

That recovery didn’t hold.

Three forces hit at once: oil prices spiked with Brent crude hitting $126.41, the Fed turned more hawkish, and capital started rotating into AI stocks where earnings momentum stayed intact.

The divergence became clear toward the end of May.

Crypto pulled back while equities held their ground, with the S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY ) ending the quarter up 16% and the Nasdaq 100 up 28%, while Bitcoin fell around 10%, Ethereum dropped 20%, and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) lost 13%.

Bitcoin now sits near $60,000, roughly 52% below its all-time high of $126,000 set in late 2025.

All Three Major Demand Channels Weakened At The Same Time Coin Metrics identified three pillars that normally support Bitcoin’s price, which all cracked in Q2.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs started strong with a single-day inflow peak of $474 million on April 20, then flipped.

Outflows dominated the rest of the quarter with 53 outflow days against just 30 inflow days.

June alone accounted for $3.84 billion of the quarter’s total $4.08 billion in net outflows.

MSTR buying pace slowed materially as STRC fell to a record low near $74 and its mNAV compressed toward 1.0, weakening the funding mechanism behind its accumulation.

The 32 BTC sale in early June dented the “never sell” narrative, prompting Strategy to launch its new Digital Credit Capital Framework with a $2.55 billion reserve and authorization to sell up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin.

The stablecoin market contracted by $4.2 billion across Q2, removing a layer of dry powder that supports on-chain activity. (CRYPTO: USDT) grew modestly by $1.8 billion while (CRYPTO: USDC) shed $3.4 billion.

Ethena ‘s USDe fell $1.4 billion as the risk-off environment reduced appetite for its yield-bearing strategy.

The Market Enters Q3 Deleveraged But Thinner Combined Bitcoin and Ethereum long liquidations totaled $8.35 billion across Q2, with more than half occurring between May 25 and June 7 as overleveraged longs were flushed out.

Bitcoin open interest fell 32% from its peak to $33.5 billion, while Ethereum open interest dropped 40% to $16.2 billion.

Bitcoin’s orderbook depth declined from nearly $70 million in early May to roughly $35 to $40 million by late June, leaving the market thinner and more sensitive to selling pressure heading into Q3.

The one standout across the entire crypto market cap top 20 was Hyperliquid, as measured by Hyperliquid Strategies Inc (NASDAQ: PURR ) is up 142% year-to-date on surging demand for on-chain perpetuals trading across equities and commodities.

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