Bitcoin Tops $65,000 Despite Tech Selloff, With $70,000 Rally in View
Summary
- Bitcoin maintained relative strength even as tech stocks fell, breaking above $65,000.
- Indicators including an 8% funding rate for Bitcoin perpetual futures and a 13% options delta skew showed that large investors remain cautious about downside risk.
- Cointelegraph said weak AI company earnings could trigger a $70,000 rally in Bitcoin.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
Bitcoin continued to show relative strength despite a sharp selloff in AI-related technology stocks and rising Treasury yields, underscoring its decoupling from traditional financial markets.
Cointelegraph reported on July 20 that Bitcoin climbed above $65,000. The move contrasted with the Nasdaq 100, which fell below 20,800 for the first time in five weeks. Even as investors rushed to take profits in memory-chip stocks amid concerns over inflated AI-sector valuations, Bitcoin maintained its own upward momentum.
Even so, sentiment among large investors in the derivatives market remains cautious. The annualized funding rate for Bitcoin perpetual futures stood at 8% on July 20, unchanged from a week earlier and still in neutral territory. Levels above 12%, which typically indicate overheated demand for bullish leverage, have not appeared since July 10.
The options market also showed stronger demand for downside hedges. Bitcoin's 30-day options delta skew on Deribit was 13% on July 20. That means put options were trading at a premium to calls, far outside the neutral range of minus 6% to plus 6%. The measure improved slightly from 19% a week earlier, but it still indicates that large investors remain on guard against downside risk.
Strategy raised $263 million in cash last week through a common-stock sale, lifting its cash holdings to $3.22 billion. The market had previously raised concerns that the company might sell Bitcoin to fund $1.76 billion in annual preferred-share dividends and repay $2.6 billion in convertible notes maturing in 2028 and 2029.
The macro backdrop is also weighing on risk assets more broadly. The yield on the five-year US Treasury rose to 4.33% on July 20 from 4.22% two weeks earlier. Gold has been trending lower since mid-May. President Donald Trump also said on July 20 that the US would retaliate for an Iranian missile attack in Jordan that killed American troops.
Cointelegraph said disappointing earnings from AI companies could become the catalyst for a Bitcoin rally toward $70,000.
Suehyeon Lee
shlee@bloomingbit.ioI'm reporter Suehyeon Lee, your Web3 Moderator.