Bitcoin slammed back to $66K by institutions, ZEC shines as it moves against the trend
- Core Thesis: On June 2nd, the crypto market experienced a massive sell-off, with Bitcoin leading the decline and triggering the liquidation of over $1.7 billion in long positions. The main drivers were sustained institutional selling and macroeconomic pressure. Against this backdrop, Hyperliquid (HYPE) and Zcash (ZEC) demonstrated notable resilience or even bucked the trend to rise.
- Key Elements:
- Bitcoin fell to $66,500, and Ethereum dropped below $1,900, with a 24-hour decline of 8%. This triggered a chain of liquidations, with over $1.7 billion in derivatives positions blown out, including more than $1.5 billion in forced long liquidations.
- Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a net outflow of $483.8 million in a single day. May recorded a net outflow of $2.3 billion, the largest monthly outflow this year. The pace of institutional selling far outpaced the price decline.
- The correlation between the crypto market and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is as high as 84%, indicating they are both facing macroeconomic selling pressure. Automatic stop-loss orders and derivatives liquidations created a chain reaction, accelerating the decline.
- HYPE hit an all-time high of $75.51 during the broad market downturn, rising approximately 15% over the past week. With a market cap of around $15.9 billion, it surpassed Dogecoin to enter the top ten. Market attention is focused on the unlocking of 9.92 million tokens on June 6th.
- ZEC defied the trend, rising over 7% and touching $628 during the session. Its market cap briefly ranked 11th. The core catalyst was the SEC closing its investigation into Zcash without taking enforcement action.
- ZEC has rebounded over 270% from its February low. The number of shielded addresses has grown from 1.47 million in 2024 to 5.11 million, indicating increased on-chain privacy demand. Analysts suggest that if the $500 support level holds, the price target points to $642.
- The governance vote for the Zcash network upgrade NU7 is expected to be initiated in June 2026. The technical roadmap continues to provide price support.
Original: Odaily (@OdailyChina)
Author: jk
BTC Leads Decline, Altcoins Suffer Across the Board, Over $1.7 Billion in Long Positions Liquidated
The crypto market has started June on a grim note. According to OKX market data, Bitcoin fell to $66,500, while Ethereum dropped below the $1,900 mark, plunging 8% in 24 hours to trade at $1,855. SOL is currently at $73, with the downturn spreading across major coins, altcoins, and crypto-related stocks.
This sell-off triggered the largest wave of leveraged liquidations since February this year. Over the past 24 hours, the crypto derivatives market saw total liquidations exceeding $1.7 billion, with long positions bearing the brunt. Bitcoin-related long position liquidations alone amounted to over $1.5 billion.
Liquidation Data, Source: Coinglass
This decline is not merely a spot market correction. Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded a net outflow of $483.8 million in a single day.
From a macro perspective, sustained institutional selling is the core driver behind this downturn. The overall correlation between the crypto market and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has reached a high of 84%, indicating both are facing common macro-level selling pressure.
Ethereum broke below the psychological threshold of $1,900, hitting an intraday low, further fueling market panic. The triggering of automatic stop-loss orders and derivative liquidations created a chain reaction on major exchanges like Bitstamp and Binance, accelerating the downward trajectory.
Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded a net outflow of $2.3 billion in May, marking the largest monthly outflow since 2026 and the most severe since November 2025. This contrasts sharply with net inflows of $1.32 billion and $1.97 billion in March and April respectively, representing a sudden reversal. The pace of institutional selling far exceeds what can be explained by the magnitude of the price decline itself.
HYPE Retreats from All-Time High, Demonstrates Resilience Attracting Market Attention
Against the backdrop of a broad market downturn, Hyperliquid (HYPE) stands out as a notable exception. HYPE reached an all-time high of $75.51 on June 2 but has since fallen back to $68 as of press time, down approximately 8% from 24 hours prior. However, it still recorded gains of about 15% over the past week.
Currently, HYPE has a market cap of approximately $15.9 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of $1.54 billion, ranking 10th among all global crypto assets. From a broader perspective, HYPE's 15% increase over the past seven days demonstrates significant relative strength, considering the global crypto market fell by 7.5% during the same period.
Hyperliquid Price Trend, Source: Coingecko
The fundamentals supporting HYPE's price are also noteworthy. HYPE surpassed Dogecoin's market cap in late May, officially entering the top ten crypto assets by market capitalization. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes publicly predicted that HYPE could surpass Solana within the year. Additionally, Hyperliquid is set to unlock 9.92 million HYPE tokens (worth approximately $684 million) on June 6, representing 2.54% of the circulating supply. The market is closely monitoring the potential price impact of this unlock.
Contrarian Rise: ZEC Emerges as the Strongest Performer
Zcash (ZEC) has been the most prominent contrarian performer amidst this market turmoil. ZEC rose over 7% in the past 24 hours, hitting an intraday high of $628, briefly pushing its market cap to 11th place among all crypto assets, exceeding $11 billion.
From a news perspective, the core catalyst for this surge was the ZEC Foundation's Q1 report confirming that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had closed its investigation into the project without taking any enforcement action. For a privacy coin project that has long been mired in regulatory uncertainty, this news was interpreted by the market as a significant compliance positive. However, this news was released several weeks ago, suggesting the current resilience is primarily supported by ZEC's strong fundamentals.
Looking at a longer timeframe, ZEC fell to a low of $185 in February this year before rebounding sharply, climbing to a high of $688 in May, representing a gain of over 270%. The number of its shielded addresses has also grown from 1.47 million in 2024 to the current 5.11 million, reflecting sustained growth in on-chain privacy demand.
ZEC Price Increase, Source: Coingecko
From a technical perspective, crypto analyst Ali Martinez noted that ZEC has triggered a TD Sequential buy signal on its 12-hour chart. If ZEC can hold the $500 support level, the next target is set at $642. Furthermore, governance voting for the Zcash network upgrade NU7 is expected to commence in June 2026, with the subsequent technical roadmap potentially providing continued price support.
