Bitcoin rebounded after sliding to the low $60,000s, recovering the $66,000 level. Easing geopolitical risks in the Middle East and steady buying by institutional investors are seen as improving market sentiment.

Bitcoin Magazine reported on June 15 that bitcoin rose as high as $65,844 intraday, the highest in about two weeks. It later kept rising momentum, trading around $66,500.

The rebound followed a sharp drop to the $59,000 range on June 5. Bitcoin showed its weakest trend since October 2024 at the time, but switched back to gains after hitting a seven-day low of $60,909. The weekly high was $66,888.

Markets see stability in the Middle East situation as a key backdrop for the rebound. U.S. President Donald Trump said on June 14 on his social media platform Truth Social that a peace agreement with Iran had been completed. The Strait of Hormuz was reopened, and a roughly four-month military conflict began moving toward a halt. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also confirmed that military operations would be suspended on fronts including Lebanon, with a related official signing ceremony set for June 19 in Switzerland.

Easing geopolitical tensions also affected the oil market. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell more than 4 percent to around $84 a barrel.

Market participants said concerns about inflation from a spike in oil prices, tightening pressure and risk-asset aversion eased at the same time, improving sentiment across the broader crypto market. Total cryptocurrency market capitalisation also rose back above $2.3 trillion.

Buying by institutional investors also continued. Strategy, led by Michael Saylor, bought an additional 1,587 bitcoins for about $100 million from June 8 to 14. The average purchase price was $63,024. This lifted Strategy's total bitcoin holdings to 846,842 BTC. Its cumulative purchase amount is about $64.07 billion, with an average purchase price of $75,656.

Over the same period, Strategy also sold 1,732,553 common shares to secure net proceeds of $209 million. The company's cash reserves increased to $2.25 billion. It kept its existing strategy of buying bitcoin during weak periods and building financial reserves.

Dallas-based asset manager Strive also joined the accumulation. Strive bought 32 bitcoins from June 2 to 7 at an average price of $63,911. Its holdings now stand at 15,391 BTC, worth about $1.2 billion at market value.

Markets assess companies' continued buying as a signal of long-term confidence in bitcoin, separate from short-term price volatility. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (브라이언 암스트롱) said recently on bitcoin's price trend, "My gut says there is a high chance the current level is the bottom," adding that "around $60,000 could be the low." He added, "No one can be sure of the exact bottom."

Armstrong also reaffirmed long-term optimism about bitcoin. He called bitcoin "new digital gold" and projected it could trade at a much higher price than now in 2030.

Bitcoin is currently about 47 percent below the record high of $126,277 set in October last year. But it has rebounded more than 11 percent over the past 10 days compared with the low recorded on June 5, showing a recovery trend.

Markets are watching whether easing tensions in the Middle East can persist and whether institutional buying can move beyond a short-term rebound into a full-fledged recovery phase.