Rewritten Version:
Bitcoin briefly surged to about $64,400 overnight before retreating, though it remains roughly 6% higher over the past week. At the same time, a missile strike on a Qatari gas vessel in the Strait of Hormuz drove oil prices higher and renewed concerns around the fragile late-June ceasefire, while Asian tech stocks declined again.
Bitcoin traded in the low $63,000 range on Tuesday after failing to sustain its move above $64,000. The pullback left the token little changed on the day, even as it held onto weekly gains. Data showed BTC hovering near $63,170 after slipping from its earlier high.
The move came despite Strategy disclosing the sale of 3,588 BTC—worth about $216 million—its largest disposal since stepping back from its “never sell” approach. The market absorbed the sale with little disruption to the ongoing recovery.
Ethereum held near $1,770, up 11.6% on the week, while XRP and Solana retained most of their gains, trading around $1.13 and $80. Most major tokens were largely unchanged on the day after leading the previous week’s rally.
The rebound has gained traction, though it remains somewhat fragile. Bitcoin had dropped to a 21-month low near $58,000 in late June before recovering into the low $60,000s. Even so, it ended the first half of the year down about 20%, marking its first weekly close below the 200-week moving average since 2023.
Some derivatives traders see the recent sell-off as a late-cycle shakeout rather than the start of a deeper decline.
Yusuf Fakhro, partner at ARP Digital, said institutional demand has largely faded, pointing to CME futures open interest falling to a 32-month low and a tightly compressed term structure not seen since early 2023.
He also noted that six-month options skew—measuring demand for downside protection—has surged to one of its highest levels on record, with similar spikes seen only around major market bottoms in 2022.
According to Fakhro, when hedging costs rise this sharply, it often signals that investors are paying up for protection just as much of the downside may already be priced in.
Meanwhile, oil markets re-entered focus overnight, with Brent crude climbing…
