Bitcoin Struggles At $65,000 Amid US-Iran War, Tech-Stock Selling Hurdles

Traders balked on Bitcoin (BTC) at $65,000 on Monday as crypto and risk-assets remained under pressure.

Key points:

• Bitcoin staged several unsuccessful attempts to break and hold $65,000.
• US stocks face pressure from both the Iran war and an ongoing institutional tech sell-off.
• Bitcoin traders stay positive on the odds of BTC/USD heading closer to $70,000 next.

Crypto stocks face “record pace” of US tech-stock selling

Data from TradingView showed BTC price volatility returning around Monday’s Wall Street open.

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

US equities faced multiple headwinds to start the week, with the US-Iran war quashing risk appetite and a tech-stock sell-off gaining strength.

Trading resource The Kobeissi Letter reported that hedge funds were selling tech stocks “at a record pace.”

“Hedge funds have sold information technology stocks in 6 of the last 8 weeks. This brings total 8-week sales to the largest in at least 10 years,” it said in a post on X, citing Goldman Sachs data.

US tech stock investment trend data. Source: The Kobeissi Letter/X

To be sure, the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite Index were both modestly higher at the time of writing, while the Dow Jones was down 0.3% on the day.

Oil prices remained above $80 per barrel as the Strait of Hormuz looked set to stay closed amid intensifying rhetoric from both the US and Iran.

CFDs on US WTI crude oil one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

In a post on Truth Social at the weekend, US president Donald Trump called for Iran to be included in a sanctions package initially focused on Russia.

Source: Truth Social

Bitcoin price upside hits $65,000 roadblock

BTC price action found little room for upside as the $65,000 mark became a point of repeated momentum failure.

Related: Trader maintains $67K BTC price target: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week

“The $65K level has capped price for the entirety of July so far,” trader Daan Crypto Trades wrote in an X post.

“But I do think the longer price spends here, the more likely the $65K level is to break. Especially with the higher lows being made over the past 3 weeks.”

BTC/USD four-hour chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X

Daan Crypto Trades joined those who saw the next likely upside target at just above $67,000. He said this was where BTC/USD would “break into a bullish market structure.”

Others referenced seasonality directing current price behavior, with summer traditionally devoid of major moves up or down.

“The markets are in a summer break, it feels like,” crypto trader and analyst Michael van de Poppe told his roughly 819,000 X followers while discussing largest altcoin Ether (ETH).

In a separate post, Van de Poppe gave a BTC price target of between $67,500 and $69,000 for the “coming weeks.” Earlier, he saw August offering even higher levels of up to $80,000, a level last seen in mid-May.

BTC/USDT one-day chart. Source: Michaël van de Poppe/X