Bitcoin Holds ~$64K as Strategy's Third 2026 Sale Turns Out to Be Routine, Not a Reversal

Bitcoin edged up 1% to $64,226 Tuesday, staying rangebound as traders weighed mixed signals on US-Iran talks against a cloudy Fed policy outlook. Sentiment was also dented by a $90 million hack of Canadian cold-wallet firm Coinkite — normally considered the safest form of crypto storage.

On the diplomatic front: Treasury Secretary Bessent told CNBC a Strait of Hormuz deal could land "today or tomorrow," while Qatar said draft language for a short-term resolution is circulating among negotiators, though no direct US-Iran talks are confirmed yet.

Strategy's sale, in context: The company disclosed selling 1,638 BTC for $104.7 million (average $63,957/coin), cutting holdings to 842,138 BTC. But the fuller picture matters:

1. This is Strategy's third disclosed 2026 sale — following 32 BTC in May and 3,588 BTC in June
2. Year-to-date, Strategy has still bought 174,895 BTC against just 3,620 BTC sold — a net ~25% increase in total holdings
3. Proceeds were split precisely: $52.4M for STRC preferred dividends, $52.3M toward a STRC share buyback
4. The company hasn't made a new BTC purchase since June 22 — its longest pause on record
5. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor maintained on social media: "I have never sold mine. Not one satoshi. Strategy is a public company, not my wallet"

Weak Coinbase Global earnings added to sector caution.

Elsewhere: BlackRock launched its first European tokenized fund access, issuing onchain share classes on Ethereum via JPMorgan's Kinexys platform, spanning $311 billion in Institutional Cash Series money-market assets across 12 share classes.

Altcoins mixed: Ether +0.5% to $1,872.85; XRP -0.3% to $1.0770; Solana +0.5%; BNB +0.6%; Cardano +0.1%; Dogecoin -0.3%.