Bitcoin Falls to $64,000 as Iran Strikes and Profit-Taking Hit Crypto

1 articles · Updated · CoinDesk · Jul 16

$64,000 marked bitcoin’s retreat after a Wednesday peak of $65,500, with BTC down 1.1% and ether off 1.7% since midnight UTC as selling spread across crypto.
Iranian attacks on U.S. bases in Gulf states and continued U.S. airstrikes hit risk appetite across assets, while traders also locked in gains after bitcoin’s monthly high.
Negative cumulative volume deltas across most altcoins pointed to market-order selling, and XRP futures open interest rose to a 10-day high of 2.21 billion tokens alongside a 0.6% price drop.
Ether’s weakness looked more like bullish positions unwinding than fresh shorting, with open interest slipping to 14.35 million ETH from Wednesday’s five-week high of 14.45 million.
Volatility is starting to stir again—bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility rose 2% to 38%—even as options traders built bullish end-July bets at $70,000 and $72,000 strikes.