Bitcoin briefly climbed to $65,500 on a slowdown in the U.S. producer price index (PPI), hitting its highest level in three weeks.

On July 15, blockchain media outlet Cointelegraph reported that BTC/USD reached the $65,500 level for the first time since June 22.

The rise came after U.S. inflation data for a second straight day fell short of expectations. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said the June PPI rose 5.5 percent year on year and fell 0.3 percent month on month. The agency said that while final demand goods prices fell 1.4 percent in connection with a decline in the final demand index, the index for final demand services rose 0.2 percent.

The PPI reading followed the consumer price index (CPI) released a day earlier, also coming in below market expectations. Despite macro variables such as war between the United States and Iran and pressure for higher oil prices, the inflation indicators showed a slowdown, reviving demand for risk assets.

Mohamed El-Erian (모하메드 엘 에리언) said on social media that the figures would lift stock markets and further lower market expectations for future rate increases. Research firm The Kobeissi Letter also pointed to inflation expectations continuing to fall, citing Polymarket users' bets on Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hikes.

The rate outlook also shifted. CME Group's FedWatch tool showed that a 0.25 percentage point rate increase at the September Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting was no longer the most likely scenario. The market is adjusting the Fed's next options again to reflect the slowing inflation indicators.

Still, near-term price action was not met with unqualified optimism. Trader Daan Crypto Trades (단 크립토 트레이즈) said, citing order-book liquidity on exchanges, that liquidity is building above $65,600 and $67,200. That means the zones could act as short-term resistance even if the rebound continues.

Analyst Rekt Capital (렉트 캐피털) noted that bitcoin is approaching the 50-month exponential moving average (EMA). He said that if past bear-market patterns repeat, the price could be pushed down in that area. Trader Killa (킬라) also mentioned that if statistical patterns from the past 12 months hold, bitcoin could show a risk-reducing move for the rest of this month and fall again.

Bitcoin markets have entered a phase of weighing short-term technical resistance zones and the monthly trend, even as they factor in supportive drivers such as slowing U.S. inflation and shifting expectations for the Fed. Attention is focused on whether bitcoin breaks through the upper liquidity zones at $65,600 and $67,200, or faces another correction despite improved inflation readings.