Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin breaks $66,000 but 4 key signals show this rally is far from normal – Crypto News

Published

1 day ago

July 23, 2026

Dripp

Bitcoin surged past $66,000 for the first time since early June, extending a recovery that is beginning to repair some of the losses left by the market’s recent downturn.

The rebound comes from a much weaker starting point than the price alone suggests.

VanEck data showed that investors who sold Bitcoin over the past month were realizing substantially more losses than gains, while unrealized losses across the network were equivalent to roughly 16% of Bitcoin’s market value.

Only 53% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply was sitting in profit, well below its four-year average of 76%.

The move above $66,000 is now testing whether rising prices can begin to reverse that damage.

However, spot-market activity remains unusually thin, and derivatives traders are still paying heavily for protection against another decline, even as long-term holders refuse to sell and demand from US exchange-traded funds begins to recover.

As Bitcoin breaches $66K its latest bottom signal trapped buyers in a 20% loss

Options skew at 11.4 points and positive funding show leverage rebuilding before Bitcoin confirms a durable bottom.

Jul 22, 2026 · Gino Matos

Buyers have yet to fully follow Bitcoin higher

Bitcoin’s breakout has so far arrived without the broad increase in spot trading that would give the recovery stronger support.

Average daily spot volume over the past 30 days stood near $5.1 billion, about 29% below the $7.2 billion average recorded since 2019, VanEck data showed.

At the same time, the trades that are taking place have also remained tilted toward sellers.

Market orders from sellers exceeded comparable buying by an average of about $70 million per day over the past month. That imbalance eased to $59 million over the latest week but remained well above the historical average of about $21 million.

Part of the slowdown may reflect the seasonal drop in trading activity that often accompanies the summer months. The continued seller-heavy flow, however, shows that Bitcoin began recovering before buyers decisively returned to the market.

That leaves the next stage of the rally dependent on whether the break above $66,000 can attract investors who had remained on the sidelines.

A sustained pickup in buying would give the move broader support. If trading remains thin, relatively modest changes in demand or selling pressure could continue to have an outsized effect on prices.

Traders are still paying to protect against another drop

The hesitation in the spot market is also showing up in derivatives, where traders remain willing to spend heavily to insure themselves against another decline.

Over the latest month, premiums paid for put options, which gain value when Bitcoin falls, were nearly 50% higher than those paid for calls, which benefit from rising prices.

That pushed the put-to-call premium ratio to 1.49, a level reached only about 10% of the time since 2021.

Bitcoin Options Premium (Source: VanEck)

The cost of short-term downside protection has also remained unusually high relative to bets on further gains, another sign that traders have not fully embraced the recovery.

Futures positioning tells a similar story.

Average open interest in perpetual futures fell to about $29.4 billion from $35.7 billion two months earlier. Funding rates remained positive, meaning traders were still paying slightly more to maintain bullish positions, but those rates stayed below historical averages.

The cautious positioning cuts both ways. Traders have yet to aggressively chase Bitcoin higher, but lower leverage also leaves the market less exposed to the forced liquidations that can turn an ordinary pullback into a much sharper sell-off.