TL;DR:
Crypto markets turned lower after Bitcoin’s brief push to a monthly high lost momentum, sending BTC back toward $64,000 and dragging sentiment across major tokens. Bitcoin had touched about $65,500 to $65,600 after softer U.S. inflation data revived risk appetite, but profit-taking and renewed U.S.-Iran strikes quickly reversed the move. By Thursday, BTC was near $64,000, with market capitalization around $1.285 trillion and dominance steady at 56.7%. The rally failed at the first serious resistance, leaving traders to question whether inflation relief was enough to overcome geopolitics and thin liquidity.
The pullback also followed a volatile stretch in which Bitcoin had slipped below $62,000 earlier in the week before rebounding several thousand dollars after June CPI came in lower than expected. That recovery first reclaimed $64,000, then $65,000, but could not hold the three-week high. U.S. equity futures weakened too, with Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.25%, reinforcing pressure across risk assets. Macro relief gave way to macro caution, as Middle East headlines and profit-taking pushed sellers back into control.
Ethereum’s retreat was sharper in tone because ETH had briefly looked stronger than Bitcoin. It climbed close to $1,950, its highest level in six weeks, before falling back below $1,900. Since midnight UTC, ETH was down 1.7%, compared with Bitcoin’s 1.1% decline. Derivatives data suggested the move reflected bullish positions unwinding, with ETH open interest falling to 14.35 million ETH from Wednesday’s five-week high of 14.45 million ETH. Ether’s pullback looks more like longs exiting than fresh short aggression, but it still weakened the broader recovery narrative.
Altcoins showed the market’s uneven stress. PUMP and ZEC each fell 4.4% after earlier rallies faded, while SOL, HYPE and ENA lost 1.3% to 1.8%. NEAR, JUP and DASH posted steeper losses, and BCH plus DEXE were among the larger-cap laggards. ONDO stood out with a 17% surge to $0.37, while MORPHO gained 3.5% toward $2.20 resistance. The total crypto market cap fell $40 billion from its peak to $2.270 trillion. Bears are leading most order flow, with negative CVD across many tokens and Bitcoin implied volatility rising to 38%, a level that often precedes turbulence. Call demand at $70,000 and $72,000 still hints at upside bets, yet the immediate tape is being driven by defensive selling rather than confident accumulation across markets today.
