Bitcoin Holds Above Key Levels Despite Fed Fears and Coldcard Hack

Bitcoin (BTC) is closing July with stronger-than-expected performance despite mounting macroeconomic and industry-specific challenges. Although the leading cryptocurrency slipped below $63,000 on Friday, trading around $62,900 after a 3% daily decline, it remains up roughly 7.5% for the month, demonstrating resilience in a volatile market.

Throughout July, investors navigated a series of headwinds, including renewed expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve could raise interest rates later this year, rising Treasury yields, a broad selloff in AI-related stocks, and the recent Coldcard hardware wallet security breach. Despite these pressures, Bitcoin has managed to avoid a deeper correction and has remained well above its recent lows.

According to Bitfinex analysts, one key reason for Bitcoin's stability is the reduced leverage across the crypto market. Unlike equities, where leveraged positions remained elevated, much of crypto's speculative excess was already cleared during the late-June selloff that pushed Bitcoin below $58,000 on July 1.

Since that decline, average daily crypto liquidations have stayed below the typical $400 million to $500 million range seen earlier this year. The analysts noted that with fewer leveraged traders remaining, the market experienced less forced selling during July's macro-driven volatility.

"Crypto fell less than highly leveraged equity sectors because much of the forced-selling pressure had already been exhausted," Bitfinex analysts said.

Meanwhile, investors continue to monitor the fallout from the Coldcard security exploit, which resulted in the theft of at least $38 million worth of Bitcoin. While the stolen funds have not yet been sold, the incident has renewed concerns about the risks associated with self-custody and cryptocurrency security.

Paul Howard, director at trading firm Wincent, said the potential liquidation of the stolen Bitcoin could create short-term selling pressure. He added that the exploit serves as another reminder that self-custody, while offering greater control over digital assets, also carries operational and security risks.

Despite these concerns, Bitcoin's ability to post solid monthly gains amid tighter financial conditions and ongoing security issues suggests investor confidence has remained relatively resilient heading into August.