After a day of mostly sideways movement, Bitcoin sharply tumbled on Tuesday, briefly dipping below the $63,000 mark, as it braced for the most event-packed week of this summer. Market data shows Bitcoin, which traded near $65,000 early Tuesday afternoon, first fell to just above $63,000. It fluctuated between $63,000 and $63,500 until around 9:00 AM Eastern Standard Time (EST) when another wave of selling pressure pushed it to a daily low of $62,684.
Although a recovery rally helped the cryptocurrency claw back most of its losses, it soon faced resistance upon returning to the $64,000 level. As of 2:37 PM EST, Bitcoin was trading near $63,660—a daily decline of nearly 2%. This drop brought its monthly losses to 4%, with its market capitalization shrinking to $1.277 trillion.
In the derivatives market, Bitcoin's sharp drop triggered the liquidation of $134 million in leveraged long positions, representing a sharp spike compared to the $30 million liquidated on Monday. Meanwhile, nearly $22 million in short positions were liquidated, pushing the total Bitcoin-related liquidation volume above $156 million. Across the broader crypto market, long position liquidations amounted to $515 million, while short position liquidations were $98 million.
Despite recent minor losses, Bitcoin is still on track to finish July in the green, marking a reversal from June when it closed with double-digit losses. However, while Bitcoin appears to have weathered shocks such as Middle East tensions, some experts believe this final week of July could define its trajectory for much of the second half of 2026.
Experts point to the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index data, and earnings reports from Wall Street giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon as factors likely to dictate the cryptocurrency's direction. One expert, Mike McClaskey, co-founder of TX and a former Fidelity executive, stated that Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's press conference would provide key clues for market watchers.
"Moving the markets will be Warsh's 2:30 PM ET press conference, specifically how he characterizes the inflation situation and whether his wording leaves any room for policy easing later this year," McClaskey said. "Since taking office in May, he has been consistently hawkish and deliberately limited forward guidance in a way that makes each press conference a de facto policy signal, not just a statement."
McClaskey added that the situation becomes more complex on July 30th, as that's when second-quarter GDP, core PCE data, and the Bank of England's rate decision are released. In his view, a favorable scenario would involve GDP close to the consensus forecast of 2.3% and a decline in the core PCE reading from May's annual rate of 3.4%. According to McClaskey, such a combination would give the Fed room to hold rates steady without expressing concern and partially restore the disinflation narrative that was broken in June.
However, if any of these metrics come in above expectations, the "hawkish" interpretation of Wednesday's events would strengthen rather than weaken.
For Bitcoin, a Fed decision to hold rates with a "dovish" tone, strong AI capital expenditure forecasts, and positive PCE data could turn the $65,000 level into a genuine attempt to reach $68,000–$70,000 during August.
"A rate hike or a hold with hawkish rhetoric combined with disappointing company earnings—and the $58,000–$60,000 range quickly comes back into view," McClaskey added. "The market has been patient for six weeks. This week, it will find out if that patience was warranted."
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