Crypto steadies as Middle East tensions counter U.S. inflation report boost

Markets Crypto steadies as Middle East tensions counter U.S. inflation report boost Bitcoin held steady at a three-week high as rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran reined in gains from Tuesday's softer-than-expected inflation numbers. By Oliver Knight , Saksham Diwan | Edited by Sheldon Reback Jul 15, 2026, 11:05 a.m. 2 min read Make preferred on Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Make preferred on Bitcoin price (CoinDesk Data) Summary Show Bitcoin held near a three-week high and ether steadied around its highest since June 3 as U.S.-Iran hostilities capped gains from a softer-than-expected U.S. inflation report on Tuesday. HYPE rose 4% and is targeting a new record above $78, supported by a trend of higher highs and higher lows since May. Rival LIT stalled as profit-taking set in near its all-time high of $2.76. CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season indicator slipped to 46/100 as strength concentrated in the majors rather than spreading across the broader market. Bitcoin BTC $ 64,651.56 and ether (ETH) consolidated during Asian and European hours after rallying on Tuesday following a weaker-than-forecast U.S. inflation figure. Bitcoin, while more than 3% higher over 24 hours, fell 0.6% since midnight UTC as tensions between Iran and the U.S. over tanker movements in the Strait of Hormuz ramped up. The largest cryptocurrency earlier touched a three-week high of $65,200. Ether marked a similar trajectory, remaining 5% higher over 24 hours even after dropping 0.8% since midnight. It touched $1,895, the highest level since June 3, on Tuesday. U.S. equities also rose in the period, with Nasdaq 100 futures and S&P 500 futures posting respective gains of 0.53% and 0.22%. The altcoin market also showed pockets of strength; PUMP rose by 8.5% since midnight after a team and investor unlock was mopped up by investors, suggesting robust demand. Derivatives positioning BTC derivatives positioning remains largely unchanged. Open interest ticked up to $17.3 billion, though the move is not meaningful, the three-month annualized basis held at 3.8% and funding rates remained broadly in the 0%-8% annualized range across multiple venues. In essence, the market continues to consolidate Options positioning tilted more bullish as the 24-hour call/put ratio moved to 66/34 following yesterday's softer 58/42 read and the one-week delta skew held steady at ~15%. The ATM term structure remains in contango, with the front end around 32%–33% and the long end at ~42.5% out to mid-2027 - indicating a calm, non-stressed volatility environment with a renewed lean toward upside positioning. Coinglass data shows $357 million in 24-hour liquidations, with a 19-81 split between longs and shorts. ETH ($132 million) and BTC ($118 million) were the leaders in terms of notional liquidations. The Binance liquidation heatmap indicates $63,500 as a core liquidation level to monitor in the event of a price drop. Token talk CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” indicator fell to 46/100 on Wednesday, likely due to the strength shown by the largest cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and ether. The indicator was also dragged down by WLFI $ 0.05674 , which lost around 1% since midnight UTC despite buoyancy in the broader market. Hyperliquid (HYPE) demonstrated its strength, adding 4% since midnight as it looks to extend May’s rally, which has been characterized by a series of higher highs and higher lows. The next target would be a record high above $78.00. HYPE’s rival token, LIT, stalled after a strong month, rising by just 0.5% as it started experiencing profit-taking and supply distribution as it neared its record high of $2.76. There was also a strong gain for zcash (ZEC), which surged by more than 10% over the past 24 hours before consolidating around $557. 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By CoinDesk Research Jul 13, 2026 CEX trading volumes rose for the first time in five months in June, with spot climbing 15.3% to $1.11T and RWA perpetual volumes surging to a record $311B. Why it matters : CEX trading volumes rose for the first time in five months in June, with spot climbing 15.3% to $1.11T and RWA perpetual volumes surging to a record $311B. View Full Report More From Markets Bitcoin nears $65,000 as cooling U.S. inflation guts the Fed rate-hike trade For pension funds, tokenization’s real play is balance-sheet management, Fidelity’s Lai says U.S. June CPI fell 0.4%, likely cooling move toward Fed rate hikes More From Bitcoin Stripe mounts blockbuster $53 billion bid to buy PayPal Live markets: Bitcoin, ether ETFs draw inflows as majors rise as much as 5% UK plans first G7 digital sovereign bond by early 2027