Bitcoin retreated after reaching a two-week high near $64,500, with falling futures open interest and weak spot-market signals raising questions about the strength of July’s rebound. The broader crypto market remains higher for the month, but positioning data suggests the move has leaned heavily on short liquidations rather than broad new demand.
Bitcoin retreated after reaching a two-week high near $64,500, with falling futures open interest and weak spot-market signals raising questions about the strength of July’s rebound. The broader crypto market remains higher for the month, but positioning data suggests the move has leaned heavily on short liquidations rather than broad new demand.
The pause matters because the rebound has come with signs that traders are not adding leverage in step with rising prices. Bitcoin futures open interest fell to 740,000 BTC from a July 3 high of 776,000 BTC, while CoinDesk also pointed to weak ETF flows and a negative Coinbase premium as evidence that spot demand remains soft.
Bitcoin stalled on Tuesday after climbing to about $64,500 on Monday, its highest level in more than two weeks, according to CoinDesk. The pullback marked bitcoin’s first decline of the month and interrupted its longest winning streak since March, while ether also slipped after touching $1,830 the previous day.
The pause matters because the rebound has come with signs that traders are not adding leverage in step with rising prices. Bitcoin futures open interest fell to 740,000 BTC from a July 3 high of 776,000 BTC, while CoinDesk also pointed to weak ETF flows and a negative Coinbase premium as evidence that spot demand remains soft.
CoinDesk linked July’s recovery to a short-squeeze setup identified in late June, when bearish positioning was elevated even as bitcoin traded near its lowest level since 2024. More than $500 million in leveraged crypto futures positions were liquidated over 24 hours, with shorts accounting for most of the total for a sixth consecutive day.
The broader crypto market is still higher for the month, rising 8.4% since July 1 to a total value of $2.16 trillion. But derivatives data across major tokens showed a more cautious picture: ether’s open interest also weakened, and Solana’s open interest dropped to 68 million tokens from more than 76 million on June 24 despite a recent 10% price gain.
Altcoin performance remained uneven. ETHFI and LIT gained more than 30% over the past week, while FET, KASPA and WLD posted losses despite the broader market recovery. CoinDesk described that split as a sign of a more fragmented market, with token-level sentiment and onchain activity increasingly shaping performance rather than a uniform altcoin move.
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