Renewed demand for technology shares spilled into digital assets on Tuesday, lifting Bitcoin to its highest level in around two weeks as investors responded to stronger institutional flows and signs of potential diplomatic progress in the Middle East.
Bitcoin rose 3.3 percent over 24 hours to $66,126.22 as of 13.15 UAE time, extending its seven-day gain to 5.90 percent. Its market capitalization reached $1.33 trillion, while trading volume over the preceding 24 hours stood at $31.68 billion.
The broader cryptocurrency market was valued at $2.21 trillion, with 8,168 digital currencies tracked and combined daily trading volume of $56.67 billion. Bitcoin represented 58.7 percent of the market, while Ether accounted for 10.2 percent.
The rally followed a recovery in Asian semiconductor stocks, reversing part of the technology-led selloff that had pressured cryptocurrencies during the previous week.
Chip rebound helps
Fresh industry repports showed Bitcoin reaching a two-week high as semiconductor shares recovered across South Korea, Taiwan, China and Japan.
The rebound encouraged investors to return to risk-sensitive assets following several sessions of caution surrounding elevated technology valuations, Middle East tensions and the outlook for US interest rates.
Institutional activity offered further support. US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded five consecutive trading sessions of net inflows totaling more than $600 million, including approximately $227 million on July 20.
The inflows represented a shift following an eight-week period of withdrawals that continued through late June. That earlier selling had weakened an important source of institutional demand and contributed to pressure across the digital-asset market.
Tuesday’s movement suggested that some investors were once again using regulated spot ETFs to increase their Bitcoin exposure, although subdued activity in the underlying spot market indicated that broader conviction remained limited.
Diplomacy supports sentiment
Efforts to ease the conflict between the United States and Iran also improved risk appetite. A senior Iranian official said Tehran had received a proposal from mediators for a 10-day ceasefire intended to create an opening for negotiations toward a more durable agreement.
The diplomatic initiative pushed oil prices away from their one-month highs. Lower energy prices eased immediate concerns that another inflationary shock could encourage the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more aggressively.
Markets were still assigning a 64 percent probability to a September interest-rate increase, reflecting continued uncertainty about the inflation outlook.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave borrowing costs unchanged at its July 28–29 meeting. Expectations surrounding subsequent meetings will depend on inflation, employment, consumer spending and energy-market developments.
Higher interest rates generally reduce the appeal of speculative assets by tightening financial conditions and increasing returns available from lower-risk instruments. Cryptocurrencies have therefore remained sensitive to changes in oil prices and Federal Reserve expectations.
Ether outpaces Bitcoin
Ether advanced 4.17 percent to $1,938.42, outperforming Bitcoin and extending its seven-day gain to 8.68 percent. Its market value reached $233.29 billion, supported by $12.01 billion in daily trading volume.
XRP also increased 4.17 percent to $1.1333, taking its weekly advance to 6.30 percent. BNB climbed 2.02 percent to $576.70, while Solana rose 2.94 percent to $78.368.
Dogecoin gained 2.42 percent to $0.073513. Hyperliquid’s HYPE token advanced 3.81 percent to $62.972, although it remained 0.84 percent lower over seven days.
Tron was among the few major cryptocurrencies to decline, slipping 0.18 percent to $0.326598.
Cardano recorded the strongest daily performance among the larger-capitalization altcoins. It surged 8.16 percent to $0.1751 and extended its seven-day gain to 10.99 percent following an important network upgrade.
Cardano upgrade activates
Cardano’s Van Rossem hard fork moved the blockchain to protocol version 11 after being enacted on July 18 at 21:44:51 UTC.
According to the official Intersect announcement, the upgrade was ratified through Cardano’s on-chain governance system following months of testing, coordination and readiness assessments.
The proposal received support from 77.63 percent of delegated representatives and 52.7 percent of stake-pool operators. Six Constitutional Committee members determined that it complied with Cardano’s governing framework, while one did not vote.
The upgrade introduced new Plutus primitives and made built-in functions available more consistently across Plutus versions one, two and three. It also added ledger and node enhancements intended to improve performance, security and smart-contract functionality.
The on-chain governance record shows that the network remained in the Conway era, meaning the hard fork changed the protocol version without moving Cardano into a new development era.
Altcoins trade higher
Chainlink climbed 4.58 percent to $8.713, Stellar increased 3.53 percent to $0.19261 and Monero rose 3.60 percent to $344.109.
Zcash added 3.27 percent to $545.23, while Litecoin gained 2.49 percent to $47.63. Bitcoin Cash advanced 5.37 percent to $223.40, although it remained 4.71 percent lower over seven days.
Sui rose 4.07 percent to $0.7765, Avalanche gained 2.30 percent to $6.66 and Hedera increased 2.85 percent to $0.06752.
NEAR Protocol climbed 4.58 percent to $2.0102, while Uniswap surged 7.94 percent to $3.715. Shiba Inu advanced 2.52 percent to $0.00000429.
Ondo recorded one of Tuesday’s strongest moves, rising 13.76 percent to $0.391 and extending its weekly advance to 26.73 percent. DeXe jumped 25.40 percent to $42.353, Sky gained 5.13 percent to $0.06315 and Aave rose 5.05 percent to $94.82.
Mixed token performance
Other cryptocurrencies traded mostly higher during the session. OKB rose 2.60 percent to $82.32, Cronos increased 0.88 percent to $0.05807 and Aster added 2.02 percent to $0.6319.
Bittensor gained 1.88 percent to $199.37, while UNUS SED LEO increased 0.70 percent to $9.7265.
Gram edged 0.24 percent higher on Tuesday but remained 8.07 percent lower over seven days. MemeCore fell 4.44 percent to $1.1806, making it one of the notable exceptions to the broader market rally.
Canton slipped 0.03 percent to $0.12472 and extended its seven-day decline to 4.47 percent.
The mixed performance beneath the largest cryptocurrencies showed that investors remained selective. Tokens connected with network upgrades, decentralized finance and tokenized assets generally recorded stronger gains, while several projects continued to face weekly losses despite the market-wide recovery.
Stablecoins hold pegs
Dollar-linked stablecoins remained close to their intended pegs as traders moved capital between digital assets.
Tether traded at $0.9997, while USDC changed hands at $1.0006. Dai stood at $0.99906, Ethena USDe traded at $1.001 and PayPal USD was valued at $1.0011.
Gold-backed cryptocurrencies moved in opposite directions. Tether Gold declined 1.22 percent to $4,064.40, while PAX Gold rose 1.12 percent to $4,061.
Stablecoin prices remained relatively steady despite the broad rise in conventional cryptocurrencies, reflecting their role as settlement assets and temporary stores of liquidity within digital-asset markets.
Their stability also indicated that Tuesday’s rally was being expressed primarily through Bitcoin, Ether and altcoins rather than through dislocation in dollar-linked tokens.
Institutional demand returns
The five-session ETF inflow streak is particularly significant because it followed an exceptionally weak period for institutional demand. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $4.06 billion in withdrawals during June, their largest monthly outflow since launching.
Those withdrawals pushed the funds into negative territory for 2026 before inflows began to recover in July. At the same time, large Bitcoin holders accumulated more than 270,000 tokens, valued at approximately $16.7 billion, during a two-week period.
The difference between ETF withdrawals and large-wallet accumulation suggested that longer-term holders were buying while many regulated fund investors were reducing exposure.
The latest ETF streak may indicate that institutional positioning is beginning to stabilize. However, ETF inflows do not always generate immediate buying in the underlying market because authorized participants can use different creation, hedging and sourcing strategies.
Sustained daily inflows would provide a stronger signal than a short recovery, particularly after the scale and duration of the earlier withdrawals.
Market risks remain
Bitcoin’s rise above $66,000 marked a notable recovery from the approximately $58,000 level reached near the end of June. The token had faced pressure from a stronger dollar, persistent ETF withdrawals, higher interest-rate expectations and a rotation of investment toward artificial intelligence and semiconductor shares.
Bitcoin recovered into the low $60,000 range after reaching a 21-month low. That rebound held even as Strategy disclosed sales of Bitcoin to finance dividends and strengthen its dollar reserves.
Tuesday’s advance carried Bitcoin beyond that early-July range, but subdued spot trading suggested that some investors were reluctant to pursue the rally aggressively ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting.
The market’s next direction will likely depend on whether ETF demand persists, semiconductor shares maintain their recovery and diplomatic efforts prevent another escalation in the Middle East.
Renewed oil-price gains could revive inflation concerns and strengthen expectations of higher US rates. Conversely, a sustained ceasefire, softer energy prices and continuing institutional inflows could help Bitcoin consolidate above $66,000 and encourage further gains across Ether and other altcoins.
