Bitcoin has bounced back above $107,000 after a sharp weekend slump triggered by rising tensions between Israel and Iran.

According to CryptoSlate’s data, this is the first time in four days that BTC has crossed this level, showing signs of renewed investor confidence.

The downturn began after Israel launched a surprise strike on June 13, reportedly targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and senior military officials. In retaliation, Iran responded with missile strikes on key Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv and Haifa.

The initial strike sent shockwaves through global markets, pushing Bitcoin down to around $103,000, a multi-week low. Over $1 billion in crypto positions were liquidated during the plunge, signaling a brief risk-off mood across digital assets.

However, investor sentiment toward digital assets appeared to have shifted by Monday morning amid the escalating tensions.

CryptoSlate’s data shows that all of the top 10 digital assets by market capitalization registered gains during the last 24 hours, with Solana leading the charge with a 9% jump to $157.

Ethereum followed with a 4% gain to more than $2,600, while Cardano also saw significant gains of over 3%.

CoinGlass data shows that around $280 million in positions were liquidated during the rebound. Notably, over half of these liquidations came from long positions, suggesting the swift turnaround caught many traders off guard.

Macro sentiments favor Bitcoin

Despite the escalating Middle East conflict, Bitcoin’s upward movement may be less about short-term relief and more about shifting macroeconomic sentiment.

Analysts at crypto research firm 10x Research suggest deeper macro themes could create a fertile ground for Bitcoin’s growth. According to the firm, factors like rising oil prices, strong bond yields, mixed labor data, and limited Fed guidance might allow the top crypto to flourish.

In addition, on-chain activity suggests a quiet rotation of capital from altcoins into Bitcoin. These reallocations and supportive macro signals could set the stage for a stronger BTC move later in the year.

Nonetheless, 10x Research stated that Bitcoin remains in a consolidation phase. According to the firm, as long as the BTC stays above the $100,437 support level, any short-term pullbacks will likely be limited.

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is changing hands at around $ 105,000, stuck in this range due to market uncertainty about whether the Israel-Iran conflict will escalate into a broader regional war, according to a recent note from trading firm QCP.

QCP wrote in a Friday note published on Telegram that risk reversals have “flipped decisively,” with front-end BTC puts now commanding premiums of up to 5 volatility points over equivalent calls, a clear indicator of heightened investor anxiety and increased hedging against downside risks.

The firm said that despite this defensive shift in positioning, BTC has demonstrated notable resilience. Even amid recent volatility, which saw over $1 billion in long positions liquidated across major crypto assets, on-chain data shows that institutional buying continues to provide meaningful support.

QCP emphasizes that markets remain “stuck in a bind,” awaiting clarity on geopolitical outcomes, and warns that the digital asset complex will likely remain tightly linked to headline-driven sentiment shifts for the foreseeable future.

With all that in mind, however, Glassnode data provides some reassurance to investors concerned about longer-term directionality.

Although recent volatility underscores short-term anxiety, bitcoin’s current cycle gain of 656%, while lower than previous bull markets, is notably impressive given its significantly larger market capitalization today.

Previous cycles returned 1076% (2015–2018) and 1007% (2018–2022), suggesting investor demand is still pacing closely with BTC’s maturation, even as near-term macro jitters dominate market sentiment.

Galaxy Research Says OP_Return Debate Wasn’t That Important

The OP_Return debate was less important than what a “loud but small group of critics” wanted everyone to think, Galaxy Research’s Alex Thorn wrote in a recent note.

Thorn described critics’ reactions as “wild accusations of the ‘death of Bitcoin'” and argued that such hyperbole was misplaced given historically low mempool congestion.

On-chain data shows that the mempool is virtually empty compared to a year ago, and the notion that a congested blockchain is suffocating BTC, as was the prevailing narrative in 2023, now appears significantly overstated.

In the note, Thorn further highlighted the irony of labeling arbitrary data as “spam,” reminding observers that Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, famously included arbitrary text, the “chancellor on brink of second bailout” headline, in the Bitcoin’s blockchain’s very first block.

Instead, Thorn argued, Bitcoin’s community attention would be better focused on potential upgrades like CheckTemplateVerify (CTV), a proposed opcode enabling strict spending conditions (“covenants”).

“We continue to believe [CTV] is a conservative but powerful opcode that would greatly enhance the ability to build better, safer methods of custody,” he wrote, noting that around 20% of Bitcoin’s hashrate already signaled support for the upgrade.

Bitcoin upgrades require extensive consensus-building, reflecting its open-source ethos, and Thorn emphasized that cautious, deliberate evolution remains critical for broader adoption and scalability.

ByBit Launches Byreal, a Solana-Native Decentralized Exchange

Bybit is entering the decentralized exchange space with Byreal, an on-chain trading platform built on Solana, Ben Zhou, Bybit’s CEO announced via X over the weekend.

Byreal’s testnet is scheduled to launch on June 30, with the mainnet rollout expected later this year. Zhou said that Byreal is designed to combine centralized exchange features such as high liquidity and fast execution with the transparency and composability of DeFi. The platform will also include a fair launchpad system and curated yield vaults linked to Solana-native assets like bbSOL.

Market Movements:

• BTC: Bitcoin held near $105,000 after more than $1 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated, led by a $200 million long on Binance, as rising Israel-Iran tensions triggered a sharp selloff, a flight from altcoins, and a brief but intense bout of volatility.
• ETH: Ethereum rose 2% to around $2,550 after finding strong support at $2,510, showing resilience amid Israel-Iran tensions and broader market volatility, with continued institutional inflows supporting the uptrend.
• Nikkei 225: Asia-Pacific markets rose Monday, led by Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.87 percent, as investors weighed escalating Israel-Iran tensions, while oil and gold prices surged on safe haven demand.
• Gold: Gold climbed to $3,447 in early Asian trading Monday, hitting a one-month high as Middle East tensions and rising expectations of a September Fed rate cut outweighed strong U.S. consumer sentiment data.

Elsewhere in Crypto:

The recent escalation in tensions between Israel and Iran has added a new wave of anxiety in the global markets, causing investors to adopt a more cautious stance towards investing. At the same time, Bitcoin’s technical chart is sending mixed signals that could lead to a breakout in either direction. 

After a failed attempt to reclaim $110,000 earlier this week, the price has now slipped below the 21-day moving average, but still above support at the 50-day moving average. This confluence of moving averages, coupled with a clearly defined trendline resistance, has brought Bitcoin into a tightening price structure of a descending triangle pattern.

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Descending Triangle With Tightening Range And Bearish Pressure

According to a crypto analyst on X, Bitcoin is forming a descending triangle pattern on the daily candlestick timeframe chart. Interestingly, technical analysis rules state that the descending triangle pattern setup is typically associated with bearish breakdowns. The chart image accompanying the post shows repeated rejection from a downward-sloping trendline that began when Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of $111,814 on May 22. The second rejection was a lower high around $110,000 earlier this week. On the other hand, the base of the triangle has remained constant with a support zone around $102,000. 

The analyst noted that the 21-day moving average (21MA), shown in blue, is exerting downward pressure, acting as resistance, while the 50-day moving average (50MA), in green, is acting as a temporary support floor. As price action continues to narrow within this triangle move, the market is on the projection for a decisive move in any direction. 

Whether it breaks above the resistance or falls through the support will likely dictate the next major trend. However, if the descending triangle pattern continues to play out with lower highs and steady support, the breakout will lean more towards a downside breakout.

Israel-Iran Tensions May Push Breakout Or Breakdown

The ongoing tensions between Israel and Iran could be the spark that forces Bitcoin out of its current range. Notably, a wave of liquidations hit the crypto market on Friday as reports of an Israeli airstrike on Iran made the news. 

During periods of geopolitical instability like this, Bitcoin often trades in unpredictable ways. There are two possible outcomes for the leading cryptocurrency from here. It could act as a haven, or it could be sold off for liquidity. If the fear in traditional markets continues to increase, Bitcoin could break below the $102,000 support in the coming trading sessions, confirming the descending triangle’s bearish implications. 

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However, if bullish momentum returns, a break above the descending trendline could invalidate the bearish pattern and open the door for a retest of the $110,800 all-time high region. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $104,990.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView