Bitcoin Slides as Warsh Stays Hawkish and Markets Await a Lasting US-Iran Agreement: Weekly Recap

The Federal Reserve didn’t change the interest rates, as expected, while the US-Iran deal uncertainty still hinges despite promises.

It was another eventful and volatile week in the cryptocurrency markets (and beyond), which began with promising news on the war front in the Middle East that all concerned parties had agreed to a deal. However, it’s not that simple.

In the meantime, bitcoin’s price had struggled to break above $64,000 until Sunday evening, when Trump’s promise of a deal was announced to the world. The cryptocurrency reacted with an immediate surge that pushed it to $66,000 within hours and above $67,000 on Monday to mark a multi-week peak of its own.

However, the subsequent rejection was right around the corner. In the hours leading up to the Wednesday FOMC meeting, which was the first under the Federal Reserve’s new Chairman, BTC dropped below $65,000 and then jumped to $66,400. However, once the Fed confirmed that it won’t lower the rates, as essentially everyone anticipated, and then Kevin Warsh’s speech showed his hawkish tone, bitcoin slipped once again.

It kept sliding in the following days and dipped to a weekly low of $62,300 earlier today. This also came amid growing concerns that the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran might not come to fruition. However, the two hotheads in the mix, Israel and Hezbollah, reportedly agreed to a ceasefire earlier today, due to begin at 14:00 BST on Friday.

BTC reacted with another uptick, going above $63,000 as of press time. It’s likely that the cryptocurrency will gain further traction if the actual permanent deal is signed, as it was promised, today, but the broader market remains fragile, especially with the uncertainty around Strategy and its controversial STRC shares. More on that, a bit later.

For now, BTC remains in the red weekly, and so are BNB, DOGE, XMR, CC, BCH, and ADA. In contrast, HYPE, XLM, WLD, UNI, and RAIN have marked double-digit gains.

Market Data

Market Cap: $2.26T | 24H Vol: $75B | BTC Dominance: 56.1%

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BTC: $63,230 (-1.3%) | ETH: $1,700 (+0.85%) | XRP: $1.14 (-0.9%)

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss

Strive CEO: Sharp STRC, SATA Drops Were Leverage Liquidations, Not Credit Failures. Despite making another $100 million bitcoin acquisition this week, Saylor’s Strategy attracted some controversy due to its STRC shares. The financial vehicle has fallen well below its intended price of $100, and a crash on Thursday increased the FUD even though Strive’s CEO defended the product and the issuer behind it.

Bitcoin Dips Below $64K Again: Here’s How Whales Reacted. With bitcoin’s price instability and consistent weakness, large whales, those holding at least 1,000 units, had increased their holdings to their highest levels in over three months. They control almost 36% of BTC’s available supply now.

Morgan Stanley Files Amendments, Clearing Path for Cheapest ETH, SOL ETFs. Months after launching its Bitcoin ETF, the banking behemoth filed amendments for its two ETH and SOL filings. If approved, the new financial vehicles will be the cheapest of the bunch and will include staking arrangements.

BlackRock Rolls Out Bitcoin Income ETF as Demand for Covered Calls Grows. Speaking of ETFs, the world’s largest asset manager launched its iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BITA) to expand its product lineup with a yield-focused vehicle.

Illinois Passed the Most Anti-Crypto Law in the US: Miles Jennings. On June 17, Illinois officials enacted the Digital Asset Privilege Tax Act, which was called “one of the most anti-crypto laws in the US” by Andreessen Horowitz’s Miles Jennings. It imposes a 0.2% tax on the exchange, transfer, and custody of cryptocurrencies, with no meaningful exemptions for routine self-custody moves.

Bitmine Adds $135M in ETH, Closing In on 5% of Ethereum Supply. The broader market’s weakness has not deterred Bitmine from reaching its goal of owning 5% of Ethereum’s total supply. In the latest acquisition spree, the company said it had acquired almost 77,000 ETH for $135 million, bringing its total to 5,620,754 tokens.

Charts

This week, we have a chart analysis of Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Binance Coin, and Hyperliquid – click here for the complete price analysis.