Bitcoin extended its decline on July 17, falling to around $62,700 and breaking below the $63,000-$64,000 support zone that several traders had been tracking. After repeated failures to hold $65,000, the market’s focus shifted to lower support, with heavy buying interest seen near $61,000-$62,000.
The article was jointly produced by PANews and BIT U.S. Stocks. It said BIT U.S. Stocks offers access to more than 16,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, supports stablecoin deposits and withdrawals as well as traditional U.S. dollar wire transfers, and includes full shareholder rights with dividends and voting.
BTC breaks support as options expiry and order-book levels draw attention
Daniel YU, head of asset management at BIT, said the crypto market failed to carry forward the rebound that followed softer U.S. CPI data for June. After Bitcoin briefly moved back above $65,000 on July 15, it turned into consolidation and then weakness. He attributed that shift to concentrated declines in AI and memory names, which hurt overall risk appetite. He also said the growing link between crypto assets and U.S. equities through ETF channels has made Nasdaq weakness easier to transmit into Bitcoin.
Sentiment in derivatives remained tense. According to Greeks.live, BTC options worth $1.2 billion were due to expire today, with a max pain point at $63,000. Coinglass data showed about $18.3 million in sell orders around $65,000, while the $61,000-$62,000 area was backed by roughly $15 million in buy orders.
Trader Killa pointed to a historical pattern as well: after the 14th day of each month, Bitcoin has shown a high probability of posting at least a 5% pullback. In 11 of the past 12 cases, the market saw a decline of about 5% after the 14th. If that pattern holds again, Bitcoin could revisit the $60,000-$62,000 range later this month.
BIT’s weekly On Target report said Bitcoin has been in an A-B-C corrective decline since February and that wave C is now under way. The same report said the bear market may be nearing its end, but a rebound in oil prices tied to the Iran conflict, along with the hawkish stance of new Federal Reserve Chair Warsh, has increased the risk of renewed inflation. In the short term, it said, the market lacks confidence for a sustained move higher. Traders are closely watching liquidity support near $62,000, and if that level breaks, attention could shift to a broader liquidation band near $58,000.
Ethereum holds up better, but $1,800 and $1,750 remain the near-term test
Ethereum showed relative strength versus Bitcoin, moving back into the $1,750-$1,900 range and attempting to turn prior resistance into support.
Daniel said Japan’s decision to reclassify cryptocurrencies as “financial assets” and reduce related tax burdens, together with net inflows on 8 of the last 10 trading days for spot ETH ETFs, helped support Ethereum’s stronger performance.
Bullish trader Daan Crypto Trades said ETH has turned $1,750 into support and could target $2,100 if that level holds. CJ also said a successful retest could open the way for a move into the $2,000-$2,100 area.
At the same time, the market remains divided. Mizer warned ETH could fall back to $1,600-$1,650, while Mister Crypto said Ethereum has still not broken its descending trendline for the year and that the current rebound may only amount to a lower high. In the near term, he said, the market still needs to see whether $1,800 and $1,750 can hold.
Daily market notes: USDH, GRVT, token unlocks and ETF flows
- Native Markets said the USDH website redemption portal will close on July 17.
- GRVT airdrop registration is open, with a deadline of July 17.
- YZY (YZY) is set to unlock about 20.83 million tokens on July 17, worth about $6.1 million.
- deBridge (DBR) is set to unlock about 618 million tokens on July 17, worth about $10.1 million.
- Upbit’s 24-hour trading volume leaders were BTC, ETH, DRV, XRP and B3.
- Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net inflow of $79.15 million, extending the streak to three straight days.
- Spot Ethereum ETFs posted a net outflow of $28.0413 million.
- Among the top 100 tokens by market capitalization, the day’s biggest gainers were BDX up 5.6%, STABLE up 5.4%, CRO up 4.1%, PI up 3.5% and MNT up 2.9%.
U.S. futures stay under pressure as semis, memory and crypto-linked stocks slide
U.S. stock index futures remained under pressure during Asian trading hours. Nasdaq futures were down as much as 1.61%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.8%, and Dow futures lost 0.55%.
BIT overnight trading data showed broad losses in semiconductors. A 3x leveraged semiconductor ETF fell 10.38%, Marvell Technology lost 4.51%, and AMD fell 3.86%. The DRAM ETF, described in the report as the world’s hottest memory ETF, dropped 5.43%, while Micron and Sandisk fell 4.58% and 5.64% respectively, and SK Hynix lost 1%. Among tech heavyweights, Intel and Nvidia stayed under pressure, while Apple was the lone gainer in overnight trading.
Elsewhere, Netflix dropped more than 9% after issuing third-quarter revenue and profit guidance below expectations. SpaceX lost 4.32% after a major Starship test flight was aborted because some engines failed to ignite. Intuitive Surgical fell nearly 10%; its second-quarter results beat expectations, but investors were concerned about future growth.
The report said Thursday’s weakness in U.S. stocks was not a broad-based liquidation. Selling was concentrated in AI, semiconductor and memory shares, sectors that had previously been among the most crowded trades. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 4.3% in a single session and was down 22% from its June high, putting it in technical bear market territory. TSMC reported a second-quarter gross margin of 67.7% and raised its capital expenditure guidance to $60 billion-$64 billion, but the market instead focused on the size of AI investment and the length of the expected payback period.
Daniel YU said the concentrated selloff in AI and memory names is offsetting the positive effect from softer CPI data. The report listed three sources of pressure on memory stocks: profit-taking after SK Hynix’s listing, supply concerns sparked by a planned IPO of about $8.6 billion by China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies, and renewed debate over AI return cycles after TSMC raised capex guidance.
Among individual names, SK Hynix ADR fell more than 13%, Sandisk dropped more than 12%, Micron lost more than 5%, Western Digital slid more than 9%, and Seagate Technology dropped 10%. Large-cap tech stocks also moved lower, with Nvidia down 2.40%, Meta down 2.46%, and Alphabet A down 4.44%.
A Bank of America survey found that 82% of fund managers saw “long global semiconductors” as the most crowded trade in the world. The share naming an “AI bubble” as the biggest tail risk rose from 28% to 45%. Goldman Sachs data also showed hedge fund exposure to AI-themed stocks had fallen to the lowest level this year, suggesting the recent decline looked more like position adjustment than a sudden deterioration in fundamentals.
Crypto-related equities retreat, miners remain under short-term pressure
According to BIT U.S. Stocks data, crypto-linked names moved lower across the board. Strategy fell 3.53%, STRC lost 2.69%, Robinhood dropped 8.24%, Coinbase fell 4.02%, and Circle lost 7.69%.
JPMorgan said Strategy increased its U.S. dollar reserves from $2.55 billion to $3 billion, enough to cover about 20 months of preferred share dividends. The report described that as a positive signal, adding that further increases in reserves could ease market concerns that the company might be forced to sell Bitcoin. It also noted that Coinbase has drawn attention because of meme activity on the Base ecosystem, while Robinhood has applied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to establish an employee investment fund.
Bitcoin’s drop toward $62,700, together with a valuation pullback in AI computing power themes, kept pressure on miners in the short run. Hut 8 and Bitdeer each fell more than 10%.
Japan and South Korea’s chip chain leads losses as regulators tighten leverage
Asia-Pacific markets continued to reflect the selloff in U.S. technology shares, with Japanese equities among the weakest. The Nikkei 225 was down more than 5% at one point in intraday trading, while Tokyo Electron, Advantest and SoftBank Group all came under pressure.
Japanese memory giant Kioxia hit its daily limit down and was at one point off 15.55%, leaving its market capitalization at roughly half of its June peak. In addition to the global drop in memory shares, the company was also affected by a loss in a U.S. patent lawsuit and related damages.
South Korea’s stock market was closed for Constitution Day, but the report said the KOSPI had previously fallen from a high of 9,385 to 6,800, a drawdown of more than 27%. Korean regulators are tightening rules around single-stock leveraged ETFs, preparing to halt new listings of such products, raising the minimum margin requirement from 10 million won to 30 million won, and capping single-stock leveraged trades at 20 shares per transaction.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized the government for allowing leveraged derivatives to weigh on the stock market. He said the KOSPI had already triggered temporary curbs on program trading 37 times this year, above the full-year count of 26 during the 2008 global financial crisis.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won tried to calm market expectations, saying demand for memory chips is still growing exponentially and that the recent decline reflects a correction after expectations had run too far ahead. Over the longer term, he said, demand should continue to support SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics shares. Hong Kong and mainland Chinese tech stocks were also dragged by the global AI deleveraging move. In Hong Kong, Southbound 2x long Samsung and Hynix products both fell more than 20%, while Zhipu dropped more than 17% at one point amid competitive pressure and accusations.
What markets are watching next: WAIC and AGI Summit SF 2026
From July 17 to July 20, Shanghai will host the WAIC World Artificial Intelligence Conference. The report said the market will be watching for developments tied to domestic large language models, robotics, AI chips and AI governance policy. If the event produces supportive industry signals, AI application names and U.S.-listed Chinese tech stocks could benefit; if investors stay focused on return-on-investment concerns, the effect may be limited.
From July 18 to July 19, San Francisco will host AGI Summit SF 2026, where OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind and Nvidia are set to appear. If major model releases or commercialization progress are announced, the event could help ease selling pressure in U.S. AI stocks. If the focus remains on longer-term vision, the market may continue to question AI capital spending.