Federal Reserve (The Fed) Meeting Minutes: The Fed meeting minutes released yesterday, July 8, revealed internal debate regarding the direction of the benchmark interest rate. Although the rate was held at a range of 3.50% to 3.75%, signals from officials who remain divided on the possibility of one more rate hike in the remaining months of 2026 put short-term pressure on risky assets, including crypto.

​Geopolitics: The global political tensions that escalated in the middle of this week also triggered risk-off sentiment (investors tending to seek safe-haven assets), thus holding back the bullish rally in Bitcoin that occurred earlier in July.
​Sentiment Indicator (Fear & Greed Index): Currently in the Extreme Fear area (around the 23 range), reflecting that although prices had recovered from the late June low (~$57,750 USD), retail market participants remain very cautious.$BTC