Bitcoin price has slipped back to the $63,000 region after giving up the gains from Monday’s brief geopolitical relief rally. The cryptocurrency is down roughly 3% over the past day, according to CoinGecko data. At the time of writing, BTC trades around $63,270, having briefly climbed above $65,500 during Monday’s session before reversing.
The move higher on Monday came after reports that military strikes between the United States and Iran had paused, reducing fears of a wider regional conflict. There were also reports that Iranian and Omani officials were working on restoring maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which helped calm investors worried about oil supply disruptions. As crude oil prices fell and US equities opened higher, risk assets like Bitcoin moved up. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both traded modestly higher, and Bitcoin briefly reclaimed the $65,000 level.
Why the rally fizzled
The rally didn’t attract sustained institutional demand. Data from US spot Bitcoin ETFs showed net outflows of $11.6 million on July 27, suggesting some institutional investors reduced exposure even as prices climbed. By Tuesday, attention had shifted back to macroeconomic factors. With the Federal Reserve’s policy decision approaching, market participants stayed cautious. Treasury yields remained elevated, and expectations that interest rates would stay higher for longer continued to weigh on risk assets. Higher yields make government bonds more attractive compared to non-yielding assets like Bitcoin, and a stronger dollar also pressures dollar-denominated assets.
Rather than extending the rally, many traders treated the move above $65,000 as a chance to lock in short-term profits before the Fed announcement. Selling accelerated once Bitcoin fell below nearby technical support levels. Data from derivatives markets shows over $156.8 million worth of Bitcoin positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with about $133.5 million of those being longs. In the last 12 hours alone, long liquidations exceeded $106 million, indicating leveraged bullish traders accounted for most of the forced selling. As exchanges automatically closed those leveraged long positions, additional sell orders entered the market, speeding up Bitcoin’s drop toward $63,000.
Technical picture
On the daily chart, Bitcoin is struggling below several key moving averages after failing to hold Monday’s recovery. Price has slipped beneath the 20-day EMA (around $64,223) and the 50-day EMA (around $64,916), keeping short-term momentum tilted lower. The 100-day EMA near $67,599 and the 200-day EMA around $73,306 remain well above the current price, suggesting the broader trend hasn’t recovered yet despite several rebounds in July.
Volume Profile Visible Range data highlights the $64,800-$65,000 region as one of the heaviest trading zones in recent months. Repeated rejection from that area suggests sellers are still defending a major supply zone, limiting Bitcoin’s ability to establish a sustained recovery. On the 4-hour chart, after rallying into the $65,300-$65,600 resistance zone on Monday, Bitcoin reversed sharply and dropped through multiple Fibonacci retracement levels. The sell-off also pushed price below the Ichimoku conversion line, base line, and cloud, placing the cryptocurrency back in a bearish short-term structure. The forward Ichimoku cloud sits above the current price, indicating resistance could remain overhead if buyers try another recovery.
Immediate support is around the $63,000-$63,300 area, where Bitcoin has started to stabilize after Tuesday’s sell-off. Losing that zone could expose the recent swing low near $60,000-$61,000, which served as support earlier this month. On the upside, Bitcoin would need to reclaim the 20-day and 50-day EMAs before challenging the high-volume resistance around $65,000. A decisive move above that region would improve the short-term outlook and reopen the possibility of retesting the $66,000-$67,000 area.
