Bitcoin Faces Fresh Pressure Below $65K as Middle East Crisis Deepens

Bitcoin remained below the $65,000 level on Friday as markets reacted to renewed geopolitical uncertainty, higher oil prices, and shifting expectations around U.S. monetary policy.

BTC traded near $64,700, largely unchanged over the previous 24 hours, while the broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index slipped 0.2% during the same period.

Brent crude climbed above $83 per barrel after Iran-aligned Houthi militants in Yemen attacked Saudi Arabia, adding fresh concerns about escalating tensions across the Middle East.

U.S. Treasury yields pulled back slightly but remained elevated, with the 10-year note trading around 4.67%. Fidelity’s Director of Global Macro Jurrien Timmer previously warned that historical market trends indicate increased risks when long-term yields remain above 4.5%.

Continued strength in oil prices could add to inflationary pressures, while higher Treasury yields may keep financial conditions tight. The combination could weaken expectations for rapid Federal Reserve rate cuts and create challenges for Bitcoin and other risk assets.

Gold continued its rebound as investors moved toward safer assets amid market uncertainty, rising 1.5% to approximately $4,300 per ounce.

Crypto Derivatives Market Update

Traders adopt a more cautious stance:
The crypto futures market’s long-short taker ratio returned to neutral territory after showing bullish momentum on Thursday, suggesting traders are becoming more defensive ahead of the U.S. jobs report.

CC token shows increased bearish activity:
Canton Network’s CC token dropped 13% over the past 24 hours, while futures open interest increased by more than 5%. The combination suggests the downtrend may be strengthening, with negative open-interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta (CVD) indicating that sellers are aggressively opening short positions through market orders.

Open interest movements:
DOGE, XRP, and SUI recorded increases in open interest, while SHIB experienced declining participation.

CVD signals continued selling pressure:
The cumulative volume delta indicator remains bearish, with most major cryptocurrencies showing negative readings. ADA, HBAR, and ETH were among the few assets displaying positive CVD figures.

Volatility remains subdued:
Bitcoin’s BVIV index, which measures 30-day implied annualized volatility, continues to hover near its established support level of 36%. Despite uncertainty surrounding the delayed Clarity Act vote and the upcoming U.S. employment report, volatility markets have not reflected heightened stress. Ether’s EVIV index has shown a similar pattern.

Options traders seek downside protection:
According to Deribit data, BTC put options with $60,000 and $62,000 strike prices accounted for the largest share of 24-hour trading volume, reflecting increased demand for protection against a potential decline. For Ethereum, the $2,000 call option was the most actively traded contract.

Token Market Update

Sui strengthens wallets against potential quantum threats

Sui has introduced quantum-resistant security features for user accounts by integrating two post-quantum signature algorithms approved by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), according to The Block.

The upgrade enables users to adopt quantum-safe keys generated from existing recovery phrases, allowing them to improve wallet protection without creating new seed phrases or moving assets to new addresses.

The feature is designed to defend against a blockchain-specific risk known as “harvest-now, forge-later.” In traditional systems, attackers usually need to compromise credentials before exploiting them. However, blockchain transactions can expose public keys once users interact with the network, allowing attackers to collect information now and attempt to break it later when quantum computers become capable of running Shor’s algorithm.

Sui is implementing two separate cryptographic systems for different levels of security. ML-DSA-65 is intended for everyday accounts at the protocol level, while SLH-DSA-SHA2-128s, a hash-based signature method, is used within Move smart contracts for high-value applications. Using different cryptographic approaches helps reduce dependence on a single security mechanism.

The upgrade follows a July incident in which an AI model weakened the effective security of another post-quantum cryptography candidate, highlighting the importance of stronger safeguards.

Sui said the feature is part of its “cryptographic agility” strategy, allowing future signature technologies to be added without changing consensus rules or impacting existing balances.

The development contrasts with Bitcoin and Ethereum, where implementing quantum-resistant protections would likely require more extensive upgrades. It also arrives as major Bitcoin ecosystem participants, including Strategy and BlackRock, explore preparations for possible quantum computing risks.

SUI was trading around [X], according to CoinDesk data.