Bitcoin briefly hit an intraday high near $65,500 on Thursday before giving back the gains as geopolitical chaos erupted in the Middle East. Iran attacked Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan on July 14, claiming to have targeted the US Fifth Fleet's command centre. The attacks followed US strikes on Iranian coastal cities and the collapse of diplomatic talks. As of Friday morning, Bitcoin traded just above $64,000, still up about 2.5% on the day, but the pullback from the peak told a nervous story.
Geopolitical jolt
Iran's triple strike sent conventional markets lower too — Nasdaq 100 futures edged down as the headlines hit. Crypto traders took profits fast. Ethereum slipped about 1% over the past day, while PUMP and ZEC suffered heavier losses, dropping more than 4% each. The move wasn't a panic selloff, but it wasn't a shrug either. The timing isn't great: markets had just started to digest the earlier liquidation waves that flushed excessive leverage.
Technical picture
TradingView analysis confirmed a bearish break from a multi-month symmetrical triangle. That's the kind of pattern that can trigger algorithmic selling. The first support zone sits around $61,800 to $62,000, with $60,000 the major line in the sand. If buyers somehow reclaim $65,500, the breakdown could turn into a bear trap, targeting $67,500 to $70,000. But a daily close below $62,000 would likely invite another test of $60,000.
Cleaner positioning, ETF flows key
One silver lining: the earlier liquidation waves already cleared out a lot of overleveraged positions. That leaves the market with cleaner positioning, less prone to cascading liquidations. Still, ETF flows remain the market's heartbeat. Sustained outflows would weaken institutional support, and given the geopolitical uncertainty, that's a risk to watch.
Bitcoin Hyper presale hits $33M
Amid the macro noise, a Bitcoin Layer 2 project called Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is gaining traction. It claims to be the first BTC L2 integrating the Solana Virtual Machine. The presale has raised almost $33 million at a token price of $0.0136832, with staking available at a high APY. Whether that holds up in a risk-off environment remains to be seen — but the fundraising shows there's still appetite for infrastructure plays.
Next up: the market's focus shifts to the daily close. If Bitcoin can hold above $62,000, the pullback may just be a blip. If not, $60,000 becomes the real test.
