Bitcoin Plays Hard to Get as $67K Tease Leaves Traders Waiting for the Ink 🖋️

Bitcoin briefly traded above $67,000 late Monday before slipping back to $66,404.44, with the token changing hands at $65,845 on Tuesday, up 0.3% over 24 hours and 4.8% on the week, according to CoinDesk data. Ether outperformed, rising 2.8% on the day to $1,764 and 5.8% on the week, while Solana added 3.2% to $73, XRP gained 3.2% to $1.22, and Hyperliquid's HYPE led the majors, up 6.3% to $69. Bitcoin had touched a 24-hour high of $67,217 before fading.

The macro backdrop shifted sharply on Monday after President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance signed an electronic copy of a memorandum of understanding with Iran, and Trump said the Strait of Hormuz, already partially open, will fully reopen on Friday. Brent crude slipped below $83 a barrel after its biggest drop in more than two weeks, the S&P 500 added 1.7% on Monday, and the Nasdaq 100 rose 3.1%. Crypto, however, did not follow stocks higher. "Oil dropped more than 4% and Asian equities jumped more than 3% on the ceasefire, but BTC barely budged," said Jimmy Xue, co-founder and COO of Axis, in an email, calling the move "a relief move that the market hasn't fully bought yet rather than clear risk-on redeployment into Bitcoin."

The caution has precedent. This is the third truce attempt, and bitcoin fully round-tripped the relief rallies after both the April ceasefire and the June 9 strikes collapsed, prompting Trump to say on Monday that the deal may be called off if Iran does not agree to shut down its nuclear program. Xue said traders appear to be waiting on the deal's June 19 signing in Switzerland before pricing anything as durable.

Demand signals are also soft. US spot bitcoin ETFs just came off four straight weeks of outflows totaling about $5.4 billion, including a record week near $3.4 billion, and that institutional restraint is reinforcing the profit-taking seen across bitcoin, ether and solana heading into this week's Federal Reserve decision.