Bitcoin Pulls Back From $64K Despite Strategy’s $213M Sale

Paraphrased Version:

Bitcoin briefly climbed to around $64,400 overnight before pulling back, though it remains up დაახლოებით 6% for the week. Meanwhile, a new missile strike on a Qatari gas vessel in the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices higher and put pressure on the fragile late-June peace agreement, while Asian tech stocks declined again.

Bitcoin traded in the low $63,000 range on Tuesday after failing to hold gains above $64,000. The move left prices largely unchanged on the day but still higher on a weekly basis. According to CoinDesk data, BTC hovered near $63,170 after retreating from its overnight peak.

This came despite Strategy revealing it sold 3,588 BTC—worth about $216 million—marking its largest sale since moving away from its long-standing “never sell” stance. The market absorbed the sale without derailing the recent recovery.

Ethereum held steady near $1,770, up 11.6% over the week, while XRP and Solana maintained most of their gains, trading around $1.13 and $80 respectively. Most major cryptocurrencies showed little movement on the day after leading last week’s rally.

The rebound has strengthened, though it remains somewhat fragile. Bitcoin had dropped to a 21-month low near $58,000 at the end of June but has since recovered into the low $60,000s. Despite the bounce, it ended the first half of the year down about 20%, including its first weekly close below the 200-week moving average since 2023.

Some derivatives traders interpret the recent sell-off as a late-stage event rather than the beginning of a deeper downturn.

Yusuf Fakhro, partner at ARP Digital, noted that institutional demand has largely faded, pointing to CME futures open interest hitting a 32-month low and a compressed term structure not seen since early 2023.

He also highlighted that six-month options skew—reflecting demand for downside protection—has surged to one of its highest levels on record, with similar spikes seen near major market bottoms in mid and late 2022.

According to Fakhro, when hedging costs rise this sharply, it often suggests that investors are paying heavily for protection at a time when much of the downside risk may already be priced in.

Oil markets also came back into focus overnight, with Brent crude rising…