BTC price tags $66K — can Bitcoin bulls beat out $100M of asks?

Bitcoin traders demand further buyer pressure to rid the market of thick overhead resistance above $66,000.
Bitcoin traders demand further buyer pressure to rid the market of thick overhead resistance above $66,000.

Bitcoin hit $66,000 on July 17 as sustained bidding helped bulls cement four-week highs.

BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: TradingView

BTC price gains 15% in under a week

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirmed Bitcoin (BTC) price reaching $66,129 on Bitstamp after the latest daily close.

Shaking off sell-side pressure resulting from the movement of coins tied to defunct exchange Mt. Gox, BTC/USD rebounded to deliver up to 15% gains when measured from the start of the uptrend on July 12.

“That was quick,” popular trader Daan Crypto Trades summarized in his latest post on X (formerly Twitter) alongside an explanatory chart.

“It will be key to hold the green zone going forward. But if we do, then I'm pretty confident we're back on the upwards trajectory and we'll break above this range before the Summer ends.”
BTC/USD chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades

Resistance on exchange order books proved to be no hurdle for upward trajectory, the latest data from monitoring resource CoinGlass shows.

BTC liquidation heatmap (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

Reacting, other popular traders were equally impressed. However, resistance further toward all-time highs was of a different class alongside rising open interest.

“In total, around 1.5k BTC (100M) of asks above us up to ~70k here on Binance,” Credible Crypto wrote in part of his latest X analysis.

Credible Crypto added that buyers would still have to step in to propel the market much higher.

“Ask depth on the books 2x more thick atm than bid depth, would need some significant taker bids to chew through this,” he concluded.

BTC/USDT order book liquidity on Binance. Source: Credible Crypto

Fellow trader Skew meanwhile hoped that “limit buyers on dips” would characterize short-term price action going forward, again helping to preserve the week’s gains.

“So far still seeing limit bids moving up with price, which is what you want to see in an early uptrend,” he acknowledged on X about Binance spot order book behavior.

Bitcoin ETFs leave negative flow days behind

The BTC price upturn continued to be complemented by increased flows for the United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Related: BlackRock's IBIT draws $260M as Bitcoin ETFs notch 8th day of inflows

These saw net inflows of $422 million on July 16, data from sources including United Kingdom-based investment firm Farside Investors confirms, marking one of the largest single-day tallies since launch in January.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF flows data (screenshot). Source: Farside Investors

“The Bitcoin ETFs are in ‘two steps forward’ mode after one step back in June with another +$300m yesterday and $1b for week,” Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas commented at the time.

“YTD net total (the most imp number in all this) has crossed +$16b for first time. Our est for first 12mo was $12-15b so already cleared that w 6mo to go.”
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF flows data. Source: Eric Balchunas/X

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.