Bitcoin Falls Below $60K as Fed Policy, ETF Flows and AI Trade Weigh on Market: Deutsche Bank

Here’s a clear paraphrase in a professional market-news style:

Bitcoin’s decline to its weakest level since late 2024 reflects tightening Federal Reserve policy, ongoing ETF outflows, and a broader shift in capital toward artificial intelligence, according to Deutsche Bank.

BTC’s drop below $60,000 on June 5 marked its lowest point since late 2024 and highlights what Deutsche Bank describes as a convergence of macroeconomic and structural pressures. The bank said Bitcoin is increasingly behaving like an institutional risk asset rather than a retail-driven speculative trade.

The investment bank attributed the recent selloff to a more hawkish Federal Reserve outlook, continued withdrawals from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, a sentiment shock following Strategy’s first BTC sale since 2022, and a broader rotation of capital into AI-related investments.

“Bitcoin is not disappearing; it is maturing into an institutional asset whose price is set by fund flows, Fed expectations, competing risk themes, and legislative outcomes,” analyst Marion Laboure wrote in a Tuesday report.

Bitcoin has remained under pressure in recent weeks, briefly dipping below $60,000 on June 5 before recovering to the $62,000–$63,000 range. It remains more than 50% below its October 2025 all-time high, weighed down by tighter monetary policy expectations, persistent ETF outflows, and weakening risk appetite.

While some investors see early signs of stabilization, analysts note that Bitcoin’s near-term trajectory will depend on renewed institutional demand and improvements in macro conditions.

Deutsche Bank economists now expect the Federal Reserve to raise rates twice in 2026, reversing earlier expectations for easing. The shift removes a key tailwind that previously supported demand for Bitcoin and other risk assets.

The bank also highlighted that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen six consecutive weeks of net outflows totaling roughly $6 billion. With ETF flows now a key driver of price discovery, the reversal has intensified downward pressure.

Laboure added that competition from AI investments is also weighing on crypto flows, noting that major U.S. tech firms are expected to spend more than $700 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026. Investors are increasingly weighing Bitcoin against AI-linked equities as competing speculative bets.

“The marginal buyer is no longer a retail investor but an ETF allocator or corporate treasury,” she wrote, adding that capital is increasingly being directed toward AI-related opportunities.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading about 3.5% lower over 24 hours near $62,600.

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