Bitcoin’s selloff accelerated toward $60,000 as leverage unraveled

Bitcoin’s monthslong retreat became a disorderly liquidation event on February 5, 2026, as the dollar price fell through $70,000, $67,000 and $64,000 before an approximately $60,000 print during the U.S. evening. The decline erased the remaining advance associated with the period after the November 2024 U.S. presidential election and put institutional bitcoin exposure under renewed scrutiny.

The market did not have one universal February 5 closing price. Bitcoin trades continuously across venues, and reports captured different exchanges and measurement times. That distinction is essential to reconstructing the session accurately.

A selloff that accelerated through the day

CoinDesk reported that BTC/USD reached $69,101 on Bitstamp during Asian trading on February 5, while Coinbase’s contemporaneous low was approximately $70,002. The difference showed that selling pressure and available liquidity were not identical across exchanges.

By 2 p.m. Eastern, the Associated Press reported a Coinbase price of $66,301 and described bitcoin as down about 11% during the Thursday session. Axios subsequently reported that CoinGecko’s aggregated price had fallen below $64,000, more than 13% lower on the day.

The most severe move arrived later. The Block’s price page recorded bitcoin at approximately $60,000 at 7:20 p.m. Eastern, followed by a partial recovery to about $64,100 by the outlet’s 9:07 p.m. publication time. Its reported 24-hour decline was roughly 17%. Because 7:20 p.m. Eastern on February 5 was 00:20 UTC on February 6, that low belongs to February 5 under a New York market-day convention but to February 6 under a strict UTC calendar. It was also an exchange or index snapshot, not a consolidated closing auction.

Leverage amplified the break

The price decline coincided with forced unwinding in derivatives markets. The Block cited Coinglass figures showing approximately $2.67 billion of cryptocurrency positions liquidated over the preceding 24 hours, including $2.31 billion of long positions. About $817 million of long and short positions had reportedly been liquidated during the preceding four hours.

Those figures were estimates aggregated from exchanges visible to Coinglass, not a complete audit of every venue. They nevertheless support the contemporaneous interpretation that falling collateral values triggered forced sales, which added pressure to an already weak spot market. Axios separately reported more than $1 billion in bitcoin-position liquidations by Thursday afternoon and approximately $3 billion during the prior eight days.

The selloff also unfolded alongside weaker technology shares, declining demand for speculative assets and reduced institutional buying. Morningstar Direct data cited by the Associated Press showed about $5.7 billion withdrawn from U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds over the three-month window from November 2025 through January 2026. That historical flow window did not measure February 5 itself, but it showed that a previous source of persistent demand had already weakened before the sharpest stage of the decline.

Strategy illustrated the institutional stakes

Strategy released fourth-quarter results on February 5 that made the balance-sheet consequences unusually concrete. The company reported holding 713,502 bitcoin as of February 1, acquired for $54.26 billion at an average cost of approximately $76,052 per bitcoin. Its disclosed valuation used a January 30 bitcoin price of approximately $83,740, well above the prices observed on February 5.

Strategy also reported a $12.4 billion fourth-quarter net loss, including a $17.4 billion unrealized loss on digital assets under fair-value accounting. Those quarterly figures covered the period ending December 31, 2025; they were not caused by the February 5 move. However, their release during the selloff demonstrated how bitcoin volatility had become directly embedded in public-company earnings, preferred securities and equity valuations. The Associated Press reported that Strategy shares fell 13% during the session.

What the record established

The evidence available on February 5 established a severe, cross-venue bitcoin decline accompanied by large estimated liquidations and falling crypto-linked equities. It did not establish a single cause. Leverage, ETF outflows, broader risk aversion and thin venue-specific liquidity were plausible, overlapping mechanisms rather than a verified hierarchy of causes.