The exchange of wealth into artificial intelligence may have played a bigger role in Bitcoin’s recent sell-off than many market observers initially thought.
Michael Saylor, which is his company The way recently sold part of its Bitcoin stock, pushed back against criticism and pointed instead to an unprecedented rush of money into AI sectors as a key factor in the collapse.
Collaborative Reading
Saylor Pushes Back On Offense
Strategy’s Bitcoin short selling made Saylor a target. TV personality Jim Cramer went so far as to say that Saylor “killed Bitcoin,” which Saylor denied.
He said that the capital markets have been supporting the investment AI design on record – about $400 billion over six months – and that the pressure on Bitcoin was a fluctuating currency, not a sign of asset damage.
SBI Holdings Chairman Yoshitaka Kitao echoed the same sentiment, pointing to IPOs are coming SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI may pull money from crypto.
Jobs Data Gives a Shot
The trigger, however, was the US jobs report that rattled the markets. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payrolls rose to 172,000 in May 2026, more than double the Wall Street estimate of 85,000. The unemployment rate was stable at 4.3%.
That reading confused investors. BNP Paribas said the data opens the door to three hikes by the Federal Reserve, which weighs heavily on risky assets such as Bitcoin. From $62,500, BTC fell sharply to around $59,000 following the release.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin was retail $59,990down 6% in 24 hours – its lowest price since October 2024.
ETF Exit Adds Pressure
Spot Bitcoin ETFs have now recorded 14 consecutive periods of outflows, with total assets approaching $5 billion.
The CEO of Bitget, Gracy Chen, identified this outflow as a key factor in the decline of the crypto market.
The man who said he would sell his kidneys for coins ended up selling pennies
Spot ETFs have experienced 13 consecutive days of outflows, totaling $4.37 billion, the longest outflow in history.
BTC fell below the monthly EMA50 support at $65KI’m not stupid. I just feel that we can’t pretend that we don’t see the dangers that need to be mentioned. … https://t.co/Sj0Y8zanys pic.twitter.com/2f0QxTKJYM
– Gracy Chen @Bitget (@GracyBitget) June 4, 2026
On Friday alone, Bitcoin saw $545 million in total withdrawals, according to CoinGlass data. Long positions accounted for $444 million of the total, meaning that the volume of short-selling hit the market as prices fell at key levels, adding to the decline.
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Whether the $59,000 zone still works as a support is yet to be seen. A combination of macro pressure, continued ETF redemptions, and financial volatility have left the market in a tailspin.
Image taken from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
