Bitcoin slides toward 2024 lows as institutions head for the exits
A multi-billion-dollar supply overhang, record monthly ETF outflows and a faltering corporate treasury bet have pushed bitcoin to the edge of its 2024 lows — and the pain is being felt on both continents.
AfroEuropa Newsroom
Automated Desk
Bitcoin is once again testing the lows it last saw in 2024, and this time the selling pressure is coming from the institutions that were supposed to provide a floor. CoinDesk reports that bitcoin is nearing those 2024 levels, with options traders now paying up for downside protection — a sign the market is bracing for more pain rather than a rebound.
Institutions step back
The clearest tell is in the flows. A roughly $4.4 billion supply overhang has emerged as institutional demand wilts, according to CoinDesk, leaving more coins looking for buyers than the market can comfortably absorb. The exchange-traded funds that channelled institutional money into bitcoin are now running in reverse: BlackRock's IBIT, the largest spot bitcoin ETF, shed around $300 million in a single stretch as demand dwindled. BitcoinKE reports that June marked the largest monthly outflows for bitcoin ETFs so far in 2026 — a continent-spanning retreat, not a local wobble.
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