Bitcoin Slides to $62K as BlackRock Debuts Income ETF and Ethereum Foundation Cuts Staff

Bitcoin extended its weekly decline on Tuesday, trading near $62,520 after a second consecutive session of selling pressure tied to a sharp rout in semiconductor stocks. A renewed selloff in chip shares pulled risk assets lower across the board, with Bitcoin down 5% on the week while Ether and memecoins fell even harder. Deutsche Bank noted that Bitcoin's slump to its lowest level since late 2024 reflects a hawkish Federal Reserve, spot ETF outflows, and a rotation of capital into artificial intelligence.

Trading firm Wintermute's options desk placed Bitcoin in a $61,242 to $63,563 range for Tuesday, citing rising cross-token correlations and no fresh ETF bid in sight. On-chain data painted a cautiously hopeful note inside the gloom: Bitcoin's long-term "OG" investors have slashed their selling activity to the lowest levels in nearly two years, a signal some analysts read as quietly bullish for the market.

BlackRock Adds Income Layer to Bitcoin ETF Suite

Even as spot prices pulled back, Wall Street's product machine kept moving. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, ticker $BITA, officially began trading on Nasdaq on June 16, 2026, designed to pay monthly income while preserving exposure to Bitcoin's price movement. The fund generates income by holding Bitcoin and shares of BlackRock's existing IBIT ETF, then selling covered call options on 25% to 35% of its holdings each month, with BlackRock setting a 0.65% sponsor fee that undercuts rival covered-call Bitcoin ETFs. BlackRock is also reported to be racing to list BITA before Goldman Sachs brings its own Bitcoin fund to market around July 1, 2026, pointing to a competitive late-June launch window.

BlackRock's US head of equity ETFs, Jay Jacobs, revealed in a June 18 podcast appearance that roughly three-quarters of IBIT investors had no prior ETF exposure at all before buying into the fund. BlackRock now manages over $130 billion in assets across digital asset ETPs, tokenized liquidity funds, and stablecoin reserve management as of early June 2026.

The broader institutional picture grew cloudier on the foundation side of the ecosystem. The Ethereum Foundation announced it is cutting 20% of its staff, a reduction that follows a period of significant leadership upheaval at the organization. Hsiao-Wei Wang has also stepped down as co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, adding to a string of senior departures in 2026. The layoffs arrive as Ether trades near multi-year lows and questions mount about the foundation's strategic direction amid growing competition from rival smart contract platforms.