Bitcoin jumps above $63,000 as thin holiday trade reverses June losses

Bitcoin gained 4.2% to $63,200 as of 14:30 UTC on July 4, its highest level in over a month, as thin US Independence Day holiday trading reversed the losses that pushed the token to a 21-month low in late June.

The move came with trading volumes roughly a third below the 30-day average across major spot exchanges, according to CoinGecko data, raising questions about whether the breakout can sustain once liquidity returns.

XRP led gains among large-cap cryptocurrencies, rising 5% to $1.14 in 24 hours, extending a four-day winning streak that has brought the token to the upper boundary of a year-long falling wedge pattern. The broader crypto market added about $40 billion in total value, with ether climbing 3.1% to $3,420 and solana gaining 2.8% to $142.80, CoinGecko data show.

The rally follows a brutal June that saw Bitcoin shed 17% after the Federal Reserve held rates steady and removed this year's expected cut from its projections, triggering $4.5 billion in ETF outflows — the worst month for the funds since their launch. The next major test comes July 28-29, when the Fed meets again, with markets pricing a 70% probability of another hold.

The move above $63,000 clears the first technical hurdle for Bitcoin after it closed a full week below $60,000 in late June — its first such close below the 200-week moving average since 2023. The next resistance sits at $63,800, a level that if broken and held would signal the end of the downtrend that began in January, according to technical analysts. Support rests at $60,000, followed by $56,200.

Open interest across Bitcoin futures stood at $46.5 billion as of July 4, Coinglass data show, down from $52 billion in early June as leveraged positions were flushed out during the selloff. Funding rates have turned slightly positive at 0.003% on Binance, suggesting the worst of the deleveraging may have passed.

For XRP, the 5% gain brought it to $1.14, testing the $1.18-to-$1.20 resistance zone where the falling wedge pattern's upper trendline converges with a wall of supply — roughly 50 million tokens last bought at those levels, according to on-chain data. A daily close above $1.20 would confirm the wedge breakout and open the path to $1.50, while a rejection would keep XRP coiling between $1.06 and $1.20.

The sustainability of the broader rally hinges on whether institutional money returns to the spot Bitcoin ETFs. June's $4.5 billion in outflows pushed year-to-date flows negative for the first time, and Citigroup cut its 12-month inflow forecast to zero. A sustained return of ETF inflows would provide the most reliable signal that a bottom is in.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.