Bitcoin recovered from an Asian session low of $63,065 to trade near $63,500, holding ground better than equity markets. Nasdaq e-mini futures slipped to their lowest level since May, and South Korea's Kospi fell 10%. Traders remain divided over whether the worst of the bear market has passed.
Bitcoin recovered some ground after touching its Asian session low, even as risk aversion worsened across equity markets. The leading cryptocurrency by market value traded at around $63,500, up from a low of $63,065 in Asia, according to CoinDesk data. Prices are still down 0.3% since midnight UTC and by nearly 3% over the past 24 hours.
Nasdaq futures slip to their lowest since May
Equity futures moved the other way. E-mini futures tied to the Nasdaq slipped to 27,930 points, the lowest since May, and are down 1.2% for the week after peaking near 31,000 in June. Nvidia, the index heavyweight, fell by nearly 5% on Monday.
Asian equities took the sharper hit. South Korea's Kospi fell by 10% earlier in the day, alongside relatively more measured declines in other regional indices such as Japan's Nikkei.
Traders divided over where Bitcoin bottoms
Traders are split over whether the worst of the bear market has passed. Pseudonymous analyst NoName says Bitcoin could still be weeks away from its low, comparing today's market mood with the periods leading up to the final declines in 2018. In a July 28 post on X, the analyst wrote: "People believed in the rally right before the final drop."
According to NoName, Bitcoin is climbing because an unfilled fair value gap sits above the market, a zone price often returns to fill before continuing in the same direction. The analyst expects Bitcoin to fill that gap and then fall into a multi-week search for a bottom between $39,000 and $49,000.
However, trader KillaXBT argued that many investors have become overly focused on waiting for $50,000 or even $40,000, comparing today's sentiment with 2022, when traders waited for a move to $10,000 that never came. Prediction market Kalshi assigns a 55% probability that Bitcoin reaches $50,000 before returning to $100,000.
Bitcoin had reclaimed $65,000 after a lull in hostilities between the US and Iran before reversing to around $63,000 ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. It is down about 3% over the last seven days per CoinGecko data, though it has gained more than 5% over 30 days, and sits almost 50% below its all-time high of over $126,000 recorded in October 2025.
Sources: CoinDesk, CryptoPotato
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