Bitcoin's daily, weekly, monthly and yearly price trends have all turned negative at once, with the coin sliding back toward $63,500 on renewed Iran-US tensions. Wolfe Research strategists are even more bearish, saying they see no near-term case for a rally and expect Ethereum to fall below $2,000.
Bitcoin's opening price has moved lower each day this week, dropping to $63,410.39 on Thursday, down 0.2% from Wednesday's open, before climbing back to $63,504.99 by 8:29 a.m. ET. The move left every timeframe pointing down: bitcoin's opening price is now off 1.8% from a week ago, 6.5% from a month ago and 47.2% from a year ago.
Iran tensions and cooling inflation collide
Bitcoin's slide follows Iran's statement that there has been no progress reviving the interim peace deal with the US, extending the war that began in February 2026 and causing a bearish sentiment around risk assets. Bitcoin was down 0.76% to trade at $63,575 at the time of writing, while Ethereum slipped 1.33% to $1,880.
That tension has overshadowed a softer inflation report, with the US consumer price index for July 2026 falling to 3.4%. That drop lowered the odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike in September to 33%. Still, demand for crypto ETFs stayed weak even after the data landed, with Bitcoin ETFs posting $61 million in outflows on August 12.
Wolfe Research sees no near-term bull case
Wolfe Research strategists Rob Ginsberg and Read Harvey are more bearish still. According to Wolfe Research: "we struggle to come up with a near – mid term bull thesis on the group", they wrote in a note.
The strategists pointed to rates and the dollar as the biggest drags, noting that the 10-year Treasury yield is still on track to test 5%, a headwind they said is unlikely to fade soon. Wolfe also expects Ethereum to extend its slide below $2,000.
The broker still frames bitcoin's current cycle as comparatively mild: the drawdown has reached a maximum of 53%, against a historical average closer to 80%. Based on the average length of past cycles, Harvey said the bottom is likely to arrive around October. Even so, the strategists said their preference is to stay long crypto-related equities rather than the tokens themselves.
Sources: Yahoo Personal Finance, CoinGape, Cryptocurrency News
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