Daily Market Update: Strait of Hormuz Attack Pushes Oil Higher as Bitcoin and Stock Futures Drop

TLDR

• Bitcoin touched $64,400 overnight before pulling back to around $63,170, still up ~6% on the week
• Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for ~$216 million, its largest sale since dropping its never-sell policy
• Ether is up 11.6% on the week, with XRP and Solana holding most of their weekly gains
• A missile strike on a gas ship near the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil higher and raised fresh geopolitical concerns
• US stock futures slipped Tuesday after the Dow hit a record high Monday, with Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.9%

Bitcoin pulled back from an overnight high on Tuesday but is still holding a solid weekly gain. Meanwhile, US stock futures pointed lower after a record day on Wall Street, and a new oil shock emerged from the Middle East.

Bitcoin reached $64,400 in the early hours of Tuesday before slipping back to around $63,170. That left it roughly flat on the day but still up about 6% over the week.

The move came even as Strategy disclosed it sold 3,588 bitcoin for around $216 million. That is its largest sale since the company abandoned its never-sell policy. The market absorbed the news without a major drop.

Ether held near $1,770, up 11.6% on the week. XRP and Solana kept most of their weekly gains at $1.13 and $80 respectively.

Bitcoin had fallen to a 21-month low near $58,000 at the end of June. It has since recovered into the low $60,000s. The first half of the year saw Bitcoin close down about 20%, including its first weekly close below the 200-week moving average since 2023.

Derivatives Signal Caution

Some traders see the recent selloff as late-stage rather than the start of a new downtrend.

Yusuf Fakhro, partner at ARP Digital, noted that CME futures open interest is at a 32-month low. The term structure is also at its tightest since early 2023.

He pointed out that six-month options skew has spiked to its fourth-highest level on record. The only similar readings came in June and November 2022, both near major cycle lows.

When downside protection gets this expensive, the worst may already be priced in, Fakhro said.

Oil Risk Returns, Stocks Under Pressure

A missile struck a liquefied natural gas carrier near the Omani coast as it left the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude rose 0.6% to around $72.45 a barrel in response.

That adds new risk to a late-June peace deal. Earlier this year, energy shocks tied to the Iran conflict pushed crypto prices lower before the truce calmed markets.

Asian tech stocks fell sharply. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 6.7%. Samsung Electronics slid 8.3% even after reporting a surge in quarterly profit. SK Hynix fell by the same amount as it began marketing a US listing.

US stock futures pointed lower on Tuesday. Dow futures were flat, S&P 500 futures fell 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 0.9%. This followed a record-setting day for the Dow on Monday, driven by renewed confidence in the AI trade after June’s chip stock selloff.

Investors will watch earnings from Samsung Electronics and Penguin Solutions on Tuesday for fresh signals on the chip sector.

For most of this year, weakness in AI and chip stocks pulled crypto lower too. This week, the two have moved in different directions, with Bitcoin holding steady while equities slid.

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