Bitcoin (BTC) attempted to extend its local highs at the Wall Street open on Monday as US equities began the session higher.

BTC approached fresh short-term highs at the start of the week’s first US trading session, while stocks also opened in positive territory amid relief over a pause in strikes between the United States and Iran and reports of possible progress toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Bitcoin’s price action also held two daily moving averages as support into Sunday’s weekly close.

Bitcoin tracks equities higher as Iran developments support risk assets

Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD jumping toward $66,000 as markets reacted to a pause in strikes between the US and Iran.

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Additional reports cited an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman as saying that Tehran and Oman were “trying to establish mechanisms regarding maritime traffic” through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil route that is currently closed. Because the waterway is closely watched by energy markets, developments around maritime traffic have fed into broader risk sentiment across oil, equities and crypto.

US WTI crude oil declined toward $82 per barrel on Monday before staging a modest rebound. At the time of writing, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index were both up by around 0.3%.

CFDs on US WTI crude oil one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Trading firm QCP Capital noted that higher US bond yields remained a potential obstacle, but said it expected supportive conditions for the crypto market going forward. Rising Treasury yields are often monitored by risk-asset traders because they can increase the relative appeal of lower-risk income and tighten financial conditions.

“Digital assets have generally outperformed equities in July despite a more challenging macro backdrop,” the firm wrote in its latest Market Color analysis.

“BTC and ETH are up approximately 11.6% and 24.6% month-to-date, respectively, even as higher Treasury yields and periodic risk-off sentiment have weighed on broader markets.”

QCP also pointed to developments around the CLARITY Act, a major proposed piece of crypto legislation that remains under consideration.

“Market attention also remains on developments surrounding the proposed CLARITY Act, which continues to be closely followed by digital asset participants given its potential implications for the US regulatory framework,” it continued.

BTC support holds, but traders remain cautious

Among Bitcoin traders, caution was mixed with measured optimism over BTC price action on shorter time frames.

Crypto trader and analyst Michaël Van de Poppe said BTC was holding the 21-day and 50-day simple moving averages, or SMAs, as support. The two levels stood at $64,289 and $63,261, respectively. Such moving averages are commonly used by traders to gauge whether near-term momentum is holding above widely watched support zones.

“This is a strong signal for the markets to be betting on the long side of this asset, however, it’s still a little fragile,” he wrote in ongoing updates on X.

“I’d much prefer to see a strong move to $66,000-67,000 over the next 1-3 days to see a continuous bid coming in.”

BTC/USDT one-day chart. Source: Michaël Van de Poppe on X.com

Data from CoinGlass showed crypto short liquidations increasing as the market rose, nearing $250 million over a 24-hour period. Short liquidations occur when traders betting on lower prices are forced to close positions, which can add to short-term volatility during fast market moves.

BTC/USD vs. crypto liquidations screenshot. Source: CoinGlass