Bitcoin on the cusp of $60,000 as investors flee risky bets

SINGAPORE, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Bitcoin made a 16-month low and tested key $60,000 support on Friday, as a global selloff in technology stocks deepened and washed out risky bets across asset classes. The world's largest cryptocurrency was last up 1.64% at $64,153.24 in volatile trade, swinging between gains and losses after having hit a low of $60,008.52 earlier in the session. That marked its weakest since October 2024, a month before Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election, having signalled his intention to support crypto on the campaign trail. "Bitcoin's been going down since October (2025), maybe you could ask if it was the canary in the coalmine, or a coincidence," said Chris Weston, head of research at brokerage Pepperstone in Melbourne. "A lot of these big crowded positions are being unwound very, very quickly." Ether was last up 2.4% at $1,891.27, having slid to a 10-month low of $1,751.94 earlier in the session. The global crypto market has lost some $2 trillion in value since hitting a peak of $4.379 trillion in early October, CoinGecko data showed, with more than $1 trillion wiped out over the past month alone.  Bitcoin was on track to shed 16% for the week, taking its losses for the year so far to 27%. Meanwhile, ether was headed for a weekly decline of 17%, with losses of 36% so far this year. Sentiment on crypto was affected by the latest selling in precious metals and stocks. Gold and silver, for instance, have become more volatile as a result of leveraged buying and speculative flows. Bitcoin's fortunes have been tied to the broader tech sector for some time. The price tended to rise, particularly on the back of investor enthusiasm over artificial intelligence.  "Bitcoin drifting back toward $60,000 is not crypto dying, it is the bill coming due for Treasuries and funds that treated bitcoin as a one-way asset without real risk controls, just as we have seen sharp corrections in self-proclaimed safe-haven assets like gold and silver when leverage and narrative ran ahead of reality," said Joshua Chu, co-chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association. "Those who bet too big, borrowed too much or assumed prices only go up are now finding out the hard way what real market volatility and risk management look like." To be sure, cryptocurrencies have struggled for months since a record crash last October sent bitcoin tumbling from a peak. That has resulted in investor sentiment cooling off on digital assets. Analysts from Deutsche Bank said in a note that U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs witnessed outflows of more than $3 billion in January, following outflows of about $2 billion and $7 billion in December and November, respectively. (Reporting by Rae Wee and Tom Westbrook; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

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