Bitcoin price drops below $63,000 as tensions in the Middle East lead to more selling
July 18, 2026
Bitcoin experienced a decline for the second day in a row, dropping by 1.4% to be just below the $63,600 mark. The cryptocurrency reached a low of $62,732 during the session on Friday, impacting its market cap and leading to an overall decrease of 1.8% in the total cryptocurrency market capitalization, which now stands at around $2.26 trillion.
The downward trend in Bitcoin was driven by fading optimistic post-CPI sentiment as the bullish rally following positive U.S. inflation data began to wane. Despite a short-term recovery that saw Bitcoin approaching $64,500 on Thursday afternoon, the digital asset struggled to maintain the $64,000 level. Data from the market indicated that Bitcoin fell below $64,000 on the evening of July 17, continuing its decline until reaching a session low of $62,732 early on Friday morning.
After a brief period of consolidation above $62,750, an attempted reversal stalled at $63,300. A sudden surge in selling activity caused the asset to drop to an intraday low of $62,470 around 9:45 a.m. EDT. However, Bitcoin was able to reclaim the $63,300 level less than an hour later. At the time of this writing (12:56 p.m.), Bitcoin was trading slightly under $63,600, reflecting a 24-hour decrease of 1.4%. This minor pullback also contributed to a reduction in Bitcoin’s market capitalization from the previous $1.3 trillion figure recorded on Wednesday when it briefly surpassed the $65,000 milestone. The decline in Bitcoin’s value had a ripple effect, dragging down the aggregate cryptocurrency market capitalization by 1.8%.
The negative sentiment in the cryptocurrency market was mirrored in global equities, particularly impacting the tech-heavy Nasdaq and other technology indices. The decline in these indices was influenced by a sell-off of artificial intelligence hardware stocks as well as escalating military tensions in the Middle East. Reports of potential damage to Iranian civilian infrastructure on Friday raised concerns about a further escalation of the conflict in the region. This geopolitical uncertainty led to an increase in crude oil prices, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) surpassing $82 per barrel and Brent crude rising above $87.
Despite the focus on geopolitical tensions, market analysts suggest that concerns about the economy’s strength and the possibility of the Federal Reserve maintaining higher interest rates are also contributing factors to the market downturn. There are fears that a robust economy may force the Federal Reserve to extend its current rates or potentially implement another quarter-point increase by the end of the year. Additionally, rising mortgage rates reaching annual highs have compounded worries about potential monetary tightening.
In analyzing Bitcoin’s recent performance, Nicolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at Nansen, highlighted that Bitcoin was trading at $63,000 before the release of the consumer price index (CPI) data. Sondergaard observed that following the release of the CPI data, Bitcoin rallied to $65,100 but retreated to $62,837 after the news of increased tensions in the Middle East. Sondergaard pointed to on-chain metrics related to wrapped bitcoin (WBTC) to support this analysis, indicating that while there was a brief shock with net outflows, buyers returned within the same session, indicating a smart money long/short ratio of 1.58. Retail traders exhibited a similar but slightly more aggressive trend, with a long/short ratio of 1.79. Sondergaard suggested that Bitcoin may experience a short-term decline before entering a phase of steady accumulation, as previous geopolitical tensions have followed a similar pattern.
