Markets Bitcoin Holds Steady Near $65,000 as Oil Prices Climb
Despite Brent crude reaching $97.66—its highest level since May—Bitcoin maintained its position just below $65,000, and the overall cryptocurrency market saw gains on Friday.
By Oliver Knight, Omkar Godbole | Edited by Sheldon Reback July 24, 2026, 11:19 a.m. 3 min read
Bitcoin, trading at BTC$65,010.79, saw an increase of up to 1.1% since midnight UTC, reaching $65,760, as the crypto market showed resilience despite pressures from external economic factors.
Brent crude oil prices have surged to $97.66 per barrel amid ongoing tensions in Iran. Historically, such spikes in oil prices have unsettled risk assets, including cryptocurrencies, yet this time digital currencies are largely performing well.
Ether (ETH) also reflected Bitcoin's upward trend, increasing by as much as 1.6%. Altcoins like HYPE and FET rose by over 2%.
In contrast, traditional stock markets remained subdued, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 index futures showing slight increases and gold prices remaining above $4,000. The Dollar Index experienced a minor decline.
Derivatives Market Activity
- Market activity reflects churn: Trading volume increased by 11% to $165 billion within 24 hours, while open interest (OI) stabilized around $116 billion, indicating a market characterized more by churn than by new positions.
- Bearish sentiment in dogecoin: Open interest in DOGE futures has risen, approaching 16 billion tokens, the highest since October, suggesting a downtrend as DOGE's spot price remains under pressure.
- Mixed ether signals: Ether futures OI has risen to 14.53 million ETH, marking the highest level since June 7. While positive funding rates suggest bullish sentiment, a negative 24-hour cumulative volume delta (CVD) indicates bearish traders are dominating by shorting at market orders.
- Broad bearish leadership: Most tokens, including BTC, exhibit negative 24-hour CVD, with TRX and CRO as exceptions.
- Decreased volatility: For bulls, the BVIV index, which tracks Bitcoin's 30-day implied volatility, has dropped by 3% to 39%, breaking a five-day upward trend. Ether's volatility is also under pressure.
- Options market dynamics: A significant $5 billion open interest cluster has emerged in the bitcoin options market at the $70,000-$72,000 level, primarily driven by bullish call options.
Altcoin Highlights
- Hyperliquid (HYPE) led the altcoin sector for a second consecutive session, rising 2.4% to $58.93, showing a pattern of higher lows following its July pullback.
- AI tokens FET and NEAR gained 2.23% and 1.38%, respectively, indicating potential stabilization after a period of underperformance; MORPHO rose by 1.89%, continuing its strong performance in DeFi this month.
- WLFI$0.05756 retraced 2.13% from Thursday's 12% surge, a trend seen often with this Trump family-associated token due to low liquidity.
- Lighter (LIT) decreased by 1.32%, marking a near 20% drop from its July peak as profit-taking continues after a significant rally.
- The overall 24-hour trend reveals caution, with WLFI, AVAX, HBAR, and SUI all declining between 4% and 10%, highlighting underlying weaknesses in parts of the altcoin market.
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Crypto Flows, Share and the Selective Rotation
Crypto Flows, Share and the Selective Rotation
Markets have shifted since June, with Binance maintaining a significant share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) while other tracked markets experienced outflows.
Why it matters:
Markets have shifted since June, with Binance maintaining a significant share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) while other tracked markets experienced outflows.
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