Bitcoin defies recent tech stocks sell-off. Are bulls eyeing a $70K rally?
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- Bitcoin broke above $65,000 on Monday while the Nasdaq-100 dropped below 28,800 on Friday for the first time in five weeks, as investors sold memory-chip makers on AI valuation fears.
- Strategy raised $263 million via common-stock sales, lifting cash reserves to $3.22 billion to address concerns over its $1.76 billion annual preferred dividend and $2.6 billion in convertible debt maturing in 2028–2029.
- Bitcoin's perpetual futures funding rate held flat at a neutral 8% on Monday, with the 12% threshold last crossed on July 10 in a prior bullish-leverage surge.
- Bitcoin's 30-day options delta skew improved to 13% from 19% the prior week but remained well above the neutral -6% to +6% range, meaning whales and market makers still pay a premium for downside puts.
- The US 5-year Treasury yield jumped to 4.33% from 4.22% two weeks prior as traders demanded higher returns over fiscal-debt concerns, while gold has trended lower since mid-May, suggesting no asset class is immune to the deteriorating outlook.
- President Trump vowed to retaliate against Iran for a missile strike that killed US soldiers in Jordan, placing risk assets on alert as BTC climbed to $65,500.
Why it matters: Strategy's $263 million raise lifts its cash buffer to $3.22 billion, directly addressing the $2.6 billion in convertible debt maturing 2028–2029 and easing fears of forced BTC selling. Bitcoin's break above $65,000 while the Nasdaq-100 fell below 28,800 marks a real decoupling event, but the flat 8% funding rate and 13% delta skew show professional traders are hedging, not chasing — meaning the path to $70,000 hinges on weak AI-sector earnings rather than crypto-native conviction.
