Bitcoin ( BTC ) bulls fought to protect $66,000 on July 23 as the United States spot Ether ( ETH ) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) wowed analysts.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Ether ETF performance impresses

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC price strength rebounding after initial weakness on the Wall Street open.

The launch of trading for the spot Ether ETFs appeared to catch market participants by surprise as impressive volumes, which totaled over $100 million in just 15 minutes, sent ETH/USD up 2.3%., retracing an initial rout.

“Spot ETF launch so far seeing the expected - take profit selling in both perps spot. Move retraced OI still elevated,” popular trader Skew wrote in part of his coverage on X.

Skew referred to heightened open interest on ETH derivatives markets around the launch.

ETH market data. Source: Skew/

“The $ETH ETF has insane numbers. First 15 minutes already 50% of Bitcoin's first day in terms of volume: $112 million,” Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm MNTrading, wrote in his own X response .

“The Ethereum ETF launch is heavily undervalued and I expect it to trade towards an ATH in the coming 1-2 months.”
ETH/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Fellow popular trader Daan Crypto Trades described the initial flows as “decent,’ predicting heightened crypto market volatility.

As Cointelegraph reported , the run-up to the ETF release was characterized by conversely flat ETH price action, which went against that seen on Bitcoin prior to the launch of its ETF trading in January.

Bitcoin faces up to near-term bearish threats

Bitcoin meanwhile retraced an initial downmove of its own, retaking $67,000.

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The latest data from monitoring resource CoinGlass showed a new patch of buyer liquidity emerging at $65,750, while overhead sell-side pressure also increased.

BTC liquidation heatmap (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

As anticipation of fresh upside built, traders remained broadly optimistic.

Source: Mags

“5 monthly candles to turn the previous cycle highs into support,” popular trader Jelle argued in his latest high-timeframe BTC price analysis.

“Strong foundations being built, for the next bear market lows. The best is yet to come.”
BTC/USD chart. Source: Jelle/X

In its latest bulletin to Telegram channel subscribers, trading firm QCP Capital said that crypto markets nonetheless remained in wait-and-see mode following the latest ETF launch.

“The market's reaction to the ETH Spot ETF launch has been muted, with investors waiting to see if it follows the ‘buy the hype, sell the news’ pattern,” it wrote.

“For comparison, BTC dropped to $38k after its ETF launch highs but broke all-time highs two months later.”

QCP warned that judging by options market behavior, traders expected downside forces to win out in the short term. These took the form of fresh payouts to creditors of defunct exchange Mt. Gox, as well as geopolitical uncertainty.

“With the ETH Spot ETF potentially not impacting prices on the outset, coupled with potential selling pressure from the US Government and Mt Gox, prices may remain subdued until momentum builds up leading to the elections,” it concluded.