Bitcoin stabilized on Tuesday after its largest institutional holder, Strategy, bought in during a recent price sell-off, and as tensions in the Middle East eased, providing some relief to cryptocurrency markets.
Institutional investors continued to sell Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), albeit at a slightly slower pace than seen in previous weeks.
Bitcoin rose 0.7% to $63,434.40 by 9:25 AM. The world's largest cryptocurrency has stabilized this week after plunging more than 17% last week amid a broader and sustained sell-off in the sector.
Cryptocurrency markets tracked the gains of riskier assets after Israel and Iran agreed to halt their tit-for-tat strikes in response to demands from US President Donald Trump.
Strategy buys $100 million worth of Bitcoin after selling it last week
Strategy Inc (NASDAQ:MSTR), the largest institutional holder of Bitcoin, disclosed on Monday that it purchased 1,550 Bitcoins for a total of $101 million, bringing its total holdings to 845,256 coins.
The purchase was significantly larger than the company's sale of 32 bitcoins on June 1, and is consistent with Chairman Michael Saylor's promise to buy more bitcoins than the company sells.
However, Strategy& still faces mounting debt and equity obligations tied to the capital it raised to finance its massive Bitcoin purchases, which could pave the way for further sales in the future. The company sold 32 Bitcoins last week, primarily to fund dividend payments.
Last week’s Strategy sell-off was among several sell signals that have impacted Bitcoin, as it represented the first sale of its holdings since late 2022.
Bitcoin ETF outflows continue, but at a slower pace.
Institutional investors continued to sell Bitcoin ETFs this week, albeit at a slower pace than we have seen in the past three weeks.
Investors withdrew $91.40 million from spot ETFs on Monday, a much smaller outflow than the $325.70 million we saw on Friday.
Bitcoin ETFs are still suffering three consecutive weeks of outflows, losing as much as $1.70 billion last week, the worst outflow since February 2025.
A combination of factors has negatively impacted sentiment towards digital currencies, including risk aversion due to the Gulf War, concerns about rising interest rates, and a shift in investor attention towards artificial intelligence stocks.
Cryptocurrency prices today: Altcoins rise following Bitcoin, but gains are limited
Cryptocurrency prices rose generally on Tuesday, although overall gains remained limited as sentiment towards cryptocurrencies remained cautious.
Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, rose 1.4% to $1,689.72, while XRP rose 2.7% to $1.1725.
Solana, Cardano and BNB all rose between 1% and 5%.
As for meme currencies, Dogecoin rose by 1.5%, while $TRUMP added 2.2%.
