Bitcoin falls below $60,000, on track for a rare back-to-back quarterly loss

Markets Bitcoin falls below $60,000, on track for a rare back-to-back quarterly loss The token is down nearly 7% on the week with the altcoins falling harder. Bitcoin and ether are both ending the second quarter in the red, a back-to-back losing first half that runs against the usual pattern. By Shaurya Malwa Jun 28, 2026, 7:10 a.m. 2 min read Make preferred on Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Make preferred on Summary Show Bitcoin slipped below $60,000 over the weekend and is poised to end a weak first half of the year with a roughly 12 percent drop in the second quarter after a 22 percent decline in the first. Major altcoins have fallen even more sharply, with ether down about 25 percent this quarter and other tokens such as dogecoin, HYPE and XRP posting double-digit weekly losses while tron and solana proved relatively more resilient. The back-to-back losing quarters, driven by outflows from U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs, a hawkish Federal Reserve and a strong dollar, break from bitcoin’s historically strong second-quarter performance and leave traders watching whether the weakness persists into the third quarter. Bitcoin dipped below $60,000 over the weekend, trading around $59,940 on Sunday, down 0.6% over 24 hours and nearly 7% on the week, per CoinDesk data, as a quarter of selling drew to a close. The altcoins again led the way down. Ether fell 9.5% on the week to about $1,567, dogecoin dropped 11.7% to $0.073, Hyperliquid's HYPE lost 10.6% and XRP slid 8.7% to $1.04. Solana held up better at $70, off 3.5%, and tron was the most resilient, down 1.5%. The market has spent the week leaning on bitcoin's relative steadiness while everything riskier fell faster. The weekend marks the end of a weak first half, with just two days to go. Bitcoin is on track to finish the second quarter down about 12%, after a roughly 22% drop in the first, according to data from Coinglass. Ether has fared worse, down about 25% in the second quarter following a 29% first-quarter fall. Two straight losing quarters to open a year is unusual for both - having only happened twice in BTC's history. The asset'ss second quarter has historically been one of its stronger stretches, averaging gains over the past decade, and back-to-back red quarters to start a year break from that pattern. The drivers are the same ones that have defined the month. Capital has found a current favourite in semiconductor and memory-chip stocks amid the onoing AI boom. On the other hand, outflows from US spot bitcoin ETFs, a hawkish Federal Reserve under new Chair Kevin Warsh and a U.S. dollar near a seven-month high have weighed on crypto throughout, and a tech-stock selloff earlier in the week added to the pressure. Traders will watch into the third quarter whether the ETF outflows and soft demand ease, or whether the weakness that has run through the first half carries into the second. Latest Crypto News 1 Why a selloff in gold and silver is dragging bitcoin down 13 hours ago 2 What Robinhood’s recent layoffs say about the current state of crypto investments 14 hours ago 3 Tether putting $23 billion gold stockpile to work with bullion-backed loans 16 hours ago 4 Polymarket hack updated to $3.1 million days after the platform promised users full refunds 16 hours ago 5 Coinbase and OKX try to lure in Binance’s EU users after it failed to secure a MiCA license 17 hours ago 6 Binance founder CZ blames crypto's sour 2026 on mix of AI, global tension, 4-year cycle 18 hours ago 7 Strategy's valuation has fallen below the value of its bitcoin holdings 19 hours ago 8 Ripple CEO stays bullish on bitcoin but says Saylor's strategy has hurt crypto 23 hours ago 9 Dogecoin and Hyperliquid's HYPE led weekly crypto losses as AI stocks lure buyers 23 hours ago 10 Aave, Solana ecosystem tokens lead crypto rebound as bitcoin steadies near $60,000 Jun 26, 2026 Latest Research Equities on Crypto Rails: A Platform Comparison Equities on Crypto Rails: A Platform Comparison US equities on crypto rails: access is easy, on-chain composability is the real test. Only Binance and Backpack deliver both - and only Binance at scale. By CoinDesk Research Jun 26, 2026 US equities on crypto rails: access is easy, on-chain composability is the real test. Only Binance and Backpack deliver both - and only Binance at scale. Why it matters : US equities on crypto rails: access is easy, on-chain composability is the real test. Only Binance and Backpack deliver both - and only Binance at scale. View Full Report More From Markets Why a selloff in gold and silver is dragging bitcoin down Polymarket hack updated to $3.1 million days after the platform promised users full refunds Strategy's valuation has fallen below the value of its bitcoin holdings