Bitcoin Tops $66,000, Defying Odds with Trader Optimism

Bitcoin (BTC) passed one-month highs on Tuesday as price action defied the odds to top $66,000.

Bitcoin broke through resistance to hit $66,000 for the first time in more than a month.

Traders see as much as 6% BTC price gains if further nearby upside targets are reached.

Month-end derivatives positioning underscores crypto risk confidence slowly returning.

BTC price 6% upside could come “very quickly”: Trader

BTC/USD hit highs of $66,306 on Bitstamp, according to TradingView data. That’s a level last seen on June 17.

A series of rejections around the $65,000 mark had failed to quash traders’ enthusiasm, with calls for $67,000 or higher gaining momentum. Those short-term predictions continued on the day, with key psychological levels around $70,000 now on the horizon.

“$BTC reclaimed the range lows, and is now pushing higher - as expected,” trader Jelle wrote in his latest analysis on X.

“The area between 65 and 67k is resistance from the Q1 range, but given how we sliced through it on the way down - it might not put much of a fight up here either. Eyes on those 70k range highs if so.”

Short liquidations began to mount as the BTC price broke through range highs, with data from CoinGlass putting 24-hour cross-crypto liquidations at around $200 million.

“$BTC has reclaimed the $65,000 level. The next key resistance is $67,500-$68,000, which means Bitcoin has some room to pump,” trader Ted Pillows said.

“If BTC manages to reclaim the $68,000 resistance too, it could rally another 5%-6% very quickly.”

Concerns had accompanied the start of the latest move, with commentator Exitpump seeing closing short positions fueling the upside.

“There’s very little real buying interest here,” they warned X followers while analyzing derivatives markets.

BTC derivatives hint at risk-on return

Observing options trends, trading company and market maker QCP Capital flagged “some demand” for higher Bitcoin bets into the end of July.

Here, it noted the US Federal Reserve would hold its next meeting on interest-rate changes, with chair Kevin Warsh potentially offering fresh insight into future policy.

As Cointelegraph reported, market expectations remain that the Fed will leave rates unaltered before September. CME Group’s FedWatch Tool shows 83.4% probability that policy makers will stick with the current target range of 3.50-3.75% at their July 29 meeting. For the Sept. 16 FOMC meeting, there’s a 53.8% probability of a hike to 3.75-4.00%.

“There has been some demand for month-end BTC upside,” Monday’s QCP Market Colour analysis said.

“This positioning leaves dealers short upside gamma into the 28 to 29 July FOMC meeting, increasing the potential for an accelerated move higher should tensions around the Strait of Hormuz ease.”