Bitcoin clings to $62,500 as bears tighten grip on crypto market
CoinDesk 2026-06-24 11:04:37
Context: The cryptocurrency market remains sluggish and weak, with Bitcoin holding above $62,500 and Ether near $1,665, as bears tighten their grip on the market. The lack of a meaningful bounce in cryptocurrency prices despite a partial recovery in U.S. equity futures is a major concern. This weakness is occurring as the U.S. Dollar Index continues to strengthen, which is typically seen as a negative for risk assets like cryptocurrencies.
Key Facts
- Bitcoin and Ether prices have been sluggish, with Bitcoin holding above $62,500 and Ether near $1,665, but both have fallen less than 0.4% since midnight UTC.
- Derivatives positioning is broadly bearish, with SOL futures open interest hitting a lifetime high, but funding rates and CVD are both negative, and ETH open interest rose as prices fell.
- The put-call skew on Deribit widened sharply to favor downside protection, indicating that bears remain firmly in control of the market.
- The cryptocurrency market's weakness is concerning, especially as Bitcoin needs to hold $60,000 to avoid dropping to a trading range not seen since late 2024, with $52,000 emerging as a key level to the downside.
- A portion of the altcoin market outperformed its peers, with Jupiter (JUP) and Monero (XMR) posting gains of between 2% and 4%, suggesting that investor appetite is still alive despite bearish market conditions.