Bitcoin settles near $65,000 as oil's march toward $100 fails to spook the market

Markets Bitcoin settles near $65,000 as oil's march toward $100 fails to spook the market BTC held just under $65,000 and crypto broadly rose on Friday even as Brent crude surged to $97.66, its highest since May, as the Iran conflict persists and traditional markets stay muted. By Oliver Knight , Omkar Godbole | Edited by Sheldon Reback Jul 24, 2026, 11:19 a.m. 3 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 rose toward $65,000 and ether gained 0.6% as crypto held its ground despite Brent crude surging to its highest since mid-May After previous oil spikes rattled risk assets, the resilience is one of the more encouraging signals bulls have had in weeks. HYPE advanced for a second consecutive session as it builds a pattern of higher lows from its July pullback, while AI tokens FET and NEAR also posted gains and MORPHO extended one of the more consistent DeFi runs of the month. The recovery masks lingering weakness beneath the surface, with WLFI, AVAX, HBAR and SUI falling over the past 24 hours, and Lighter extending its pullback from its July peak to nearly 20%. The crypto market is closing out the week on a constructive note, with bitcoin BTC $ 64,994.61 adding as much as 1.1% since midnight UTC to $65,760 as the broader market held its ground despite a macro backdrop that should be applying far more pressure. Brent crude futures are trading at $97.66 per barrel, the highest since mid-May, as the Iran conflict shows no sign of de-escalating. While previous oil spikes have rattled risk assets including crypto, digital assets are broadly green this morning. Ether (ETH) mirrored bitcoin’s gain, rising as much as 1.6%, while the likes of HYPE and FET rose more than 2%. Traditional markets are muted, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 index futures both marginally positive and gold holding above $4,000. The Dollar Index has edged slightly lower. Derivatives positioning Market churn dominates activity: Volume increased by 11% to $165 billion in 24 hours while open interest (OI) held steady at around $116 billion. This shows a market that's seen churn rather than positional interest. Bearish buildup in dogecoin: DOGE futures OI continues to rise and is nearing 16 billion tokens, the most since October. The continued gains come as DOGE's spot price remains under pressure after falling to the lowest since November 2023 on Thursday. The combination of rising open interest alongside a drop in price is said to confirm the downtrend and signal trader interest in shorting the falling market. Mixed signals from ether: OI in ether futures is rising as well, currently at 14.53 million ETH, the highest since June 7. Other indicators paint a mixed picture with positive funding rates still pointing to bullish sentiment while the negative 24-hour CVD indicates that bears are leading the price aciton by shorting at market orders rather than placing limit orders. Broad-based bear leadership: With the exception of TRX and CRO, most tokens, including BTC, have negative 24-hour CVD. Volatility declines: There is good news for the bulls from the BVIV index, which measures BTC's 30-day implied volatility. The measure has declined by 3% since midnight to 39%, halting a five-day streak of advances. Ether's EVIV is under pressure too. Options cluster: In the Deribit-listed bitcoin options market, a massive $5 billion open interest cluster has formed at $70,000-$72,000 options, mainly driven by bullish bets, or call options. Volume rankings also show a bias for upside with calls at strikes $77,000 and $80,000 featuring in the list alongside other calls. Token talk Hyperliquid (HYPE) led the altcoin market for the second consecutive session, rising 2.4% to $58.93 as it rebuilds with a series of higher lows since its July pullback from record highs. AI tokens FET and NEAR posted gains of 2.23% and 1.38%, respectively, offering tentative signs of stabilization after weeks of underperformance, while MORPHO $ 1.9845 added 1.89% to extend one of the more consistent runs in the DeFi sector this month. WLFI $ 0.05784 gave back 2.13% of Thursday's 12% surge, a familiar pattern for the Trump family-linked token, which remains highly susceptible to sharp reversals due to thin liquidity. Lighter (LIT) fell a further 1.32%, extending a slide that has now unwound close to 20% from its July peak as profit-taking continues following its 200%-plus rally between May and early July. The broader 24-hour picture tells a more cautious story, with WLFI, AVAX, HBAR and SUI all down between 4% and 10% over the past day, a reminder that the intraday recovery masks lingering weakness across a portion of the altcoin market. Crypto Markets Today Related Assets Bitcoin $ 64,994.61 0.80 % Morpho $ 1.98 0.17 % World Liberty Financial $ 0.057 10.45 % Latest Crypto News 1 Poolin was bitcoin's biggest mining pool and now it's filing for bankruptcy 11 minutes ago 2 Bitcoin treasury companies sell up, repay debt, pivot to AI as share prices collapse 26 minutes ago 3 India orders takedown of Jack Dorsey’s bitcoin-linked messaging app Bitchat 1 hour ago 4 BitMEX faces proposed class-action suit for theft, insider trading as crypto exchange shuts down 1 hour ago 5 Live updates: Dogecoin and ether lead pullback as investors digest tech earnings 3 hours ago 6 Ripple’s RLUSD gets two boosts as transfer volume drops 25% 4 hours ago 7 Mirae plans to turn crypto exchange Korbit into something Korea hasn't seen before 5 hours ago 8 Bitcoin holds near $65,000 as $800 billion AI selloff leaves crypto largely untouched 6 hours ago 9 Clarity Act expected to miss its window before Congress' summer break, leadership says 15 hours ago 10 Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev's X account hacked to promote token amid memecoin frenzy 16 hours ago Latest Research Crypto Flows, Share and the Selective Rotation Crypto Flows, Share and the Selective Rotation Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows. By CoinDesk Research Jul 22, 2026 Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows. Why it matters : Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows. View Full Report More From Markets Poolin was bitcoin's biggest mining pool and now it's filing for bankruptcy Bitcoin treasury companies sell up, repay debt, pivot to AI as share prices collapse Mirae plans to turn crypto exchange Korbit into something Korea hasn't seen before More From Bitcoin Poolin was bitcoin's biggest mining pool and now it's filing for bankruptcy Bitcoin treasury companies sell up, repay debt, pivot to AI as share prices collapse India orders takedown of Jack Dorsey’s bitcoin-linked messaging app Bitchat