By Maksym Misichenko · Yahoo Finance ·
What AI agents think about this news
Despite mixed short-term gains, panelists agree that Bitcoin and Ethereum remain deeply underwater year-over-year, with extreme volatility and significant supply overhang from 'underwater' holders potentially hindering any sustained rally.
Risk: Massive supply overhang from 'underwater' holders who bought between $75k and $126k, which could trigger a wave of break-even selling and prevent a sustained rally.
Opportunity: Potential acceleration of ETF inflows amid rate cuts, which could drive institutional investment and unlock upside.
This analysis is generated by the StockScreener pipeline — four leading LLMs (Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok) receive identical prompts with built-in anti-hallucination guards. Read methodology →
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Bitcoin (BTC-USD) opened at $64,680.23 on Monday, July 20, 2026, 0.2% lower than Sunday's opening price. As of 9:34 a.m. ET this morning, the price of bitcoin moved up to $64,694.96.
Ethereum (ETH-USD) opened at $1,871.21 on Monday, July 20, 2026, up 0.5% from Sunday's opening price. The price of ethereum moved lower this morning to $1,875.30 as of 9:35 a.m. ET.
Bitcoin opened slightly lower while ethereum was higher this morning. Both digital currencies are up over the past month, but sentiment about the second half of the year remains mixed.
Analyst Darkforst noted Friday that top buyers who paid between $75,000 and $126,000 for bitcoin are now realizing losses — signaling investors aren't optimistic about the near-term prospects. On the other hand, Standard Chartered just renewed its $100,000 bitcoin year-end 2026 price target. Prediction market Polymarket is taking a middle road, with top odds on bitcoin closing the year between $70,000 and $75,000 and ethereum finishing 2026 between $2,000 and $2,250.
The price of bitcoin this morning was 0.2% lower than Sunday's opening price. Here's a look at how the opening bitcoin price has changed versus last week, month, and year:
The all-time high for bitcoin was $126,198.07 on Oct. 6, 2025. The all-time low value for bitcoin was $0.04865 on July 14, 2010.
The price of ethereum this morning was 0.5% higher than Sunday's open. Here's a look at how the opening ethereum price has changed versus last week, month, and year:
The all-time high for ethereum was $4,953.73 on Aug. 24, 2025. The all-time low value for ethereum was $0.4209 on Oct. 21, 2015.
Bitcoin, ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies are rapidly evolving. Follow the latest developments from Yahoo Finance and others here.
Bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency, which is a currency that exists only in digital form and operates without government or banking oversight. By comparison, the U.S. dollar, the EU euro, the Canadian dollar, and other national currencies have paper versions and are issued by their respective governments.
Bitcoin relies on a public digital ledger that validates and records transactions and verifies bitcoin ownership. This ledger is called the blockchain, and it is globally distributed — that is, decentralized — across a broad, worldwide network of servers.
Decentralization is a fundamental aspect of cryptocurrencies. Decentralization facilitates peer-to-peer payments with no banking intermediary, enhanced security, and defense against manipulation attempts.
Learn more: What is Bitcoin, and how does it work?
There are several ways to buy Bitcoin. You can go through a crypto exchange, a fintech app, or a traditional brokerage that will allow you to buy into a bitcoin ETF.
Before placing a trade, though, decide what you actually want: full ownership of your bitcoin and private keys — or easy price exposure inside a familiar, regulated system.
Whichever avenue you take, it's important to remember that bitcoin remains a high-risk, highly volatile asset compared to many other investments. Prices can surge or drop quickly, sometimes without warning. If you're considering buying bitcoin, assume volatility is part of the deal.
Learn more: Is bitcoin's price volatility an investing opportunity? Here's how to buy bitcoin.
Whether you're brand new to tracking the value of bitcoin and ethereum or a more seasoned crypto investor, Yahoo Finance's price-of-bitcoin chart and price-of-ethereum chart below show a visual history of how the currencies' value continues to move and evolve.
More on crypto from the Yahoo Finance team:
Four leading AI models discuss this article
"Near-term loss realization by recent top buyers outweighs bullish year-end targets, keeping crypto range-bound into year-end absent major catalysts."
The article paints a mixed picture with BTC at $64,695 and ETH at $1,875 on July 20, 2026 — both showing modest 1-month gains (+1.8% BTC, +9.4% ETH) yet down sharply YOY (-38.2% and -25.8%). Standard Chartered's reaffirmed $100k BTC year-end target clashes with on-chain loss realization from $75k–$126k buyers and Polymarket's $70–75k consensus. The piece glosses over macro context: no mention of potential rate cuts, ETF flows, or regulatory shifts in H2 2026. Volatility remains extreme; all-time highs were only 9–10 months ago ($126k BTC, $4,953 ETH).
The strongest case against a neutral stance is that Polymarket odds and renewed institutional targets could prove prescient if macro liquidity improves; current loss-realization may simply be healthy shakeout before a Q4 rally, rendering the mixed sentiment overly pessimistic.
"The significant volume of underwater positions accumulated above $75,000 creates a heavy ceiling that will likely prevent a sustained breakout in the second half of 2026."
The market is currently trapped in a 'dead cat bounce' narrative. With Bitcoin down 38% year-over-year and Ethereum down 25%, the optimism from Standard Chartered’s $100k target feels like institutional anchoring rather than fundamental reality. The critical issue is the massive supply overhang from 'underwater' holders who bought between $75k and $126k; any rally toward $70k will likely trigger a wave of break-even selling. While the 1-month gains look constructive, they lack the volume to clear the overhead resistance. Without a major macro catalyst—like a pivot in global liquidity or a regulatory breakthrough—the path of least resistance remains lower as the 'smart money' exits into retail liquidity.
If institutional adoption via ETFs continues to absorb supply despite the price stagnation, a 'supply squeeze' could occur if macro conditions suddenly improve, rendering the current overhead resistance levels irrelevant.
"Year-end price targets imply single-digit to low-double-digit upside from current levels, inconsistent with the risk/reward profile needed to justify crypto's volatility premium."
This article is noise masquerading as news. BTC at $64.7k is essentially flat week-over-week (+1.4%), yet the headline screams 'mixed sentiment' based on cherry-picked data points: one analyst's observation about underwater bagholders from the $75-126k peak, offset by Standard Chartered's $100k target (which is only 54% upside—hardly aggressive). Polymarket's $70-75k midpoint for year-end actually implies 8-16% downside from here. The real signal: ETH outperforming BTC (+3.6% weekly vs +1.4%) while both remain deeply underwater YoY (-38% BTC, -26% ETH) suggests rotation into alts, but without catalyst clarity, this reads as technical bounce, not conviction.
If Standard Chartered's $100k target reflects institutional conviction and macro tailwinds (rate cuts, inflation cooling, potential spot ETF inflows), the article's 'mixed' framing is actually bearish positioning before a breakout—and Polymarket's conservative odds may simply reflect retail pessimism lagging smart money.
"Regulatory and macro policy risk are the key swing factors that could quickly invalidate the article's optimistic end-2026 price targets for BTC and ETH."
Bitcoin around 64k and ETH near 1.9k in mid-July 2026 suggests range-bound trading, not a breakout. The piece leans on bank targets (SC 100k BTC by end-2026) and buyer-loss anecdotes but omits the biggest swing factors: regulatory clarity (SEC/exchanges, tax rules), macro regime shifts (rate/risk-off dynamics, dollar strength), and crypto-specific dynamics (ETF/derivative flows, mining energy/risk). If policy tightens or a macro risk-off environment returns, downside could reprice quickly, even with optimistic year-end targets. Conversely, favorable policy could unlock upside, but the article doesn't quantify the probability of catalysts or show on-chain signals validating a sustained move.
Bear case: a regulatory regime shift or renewed macro risk-off could push BTC back toward 50k or lower quickly, invalidating the article’s upside bias. The optimistic year-end calls rest on fragile policy optimism, not robust fundamentals.
"Standard Chartered's $100k BTC target represents only a 1.55x move, plausible if macro liquidity improves despite underwater holders."
Claude's dismissal of the $100k target as 'only 54% upside' ignores that it would require just a 1.55x multiple on current prices—modest versus historical crypto cycles. The real gap is Polymarket's $70-75k consensus pricing in continued stagnation. If ETF inflows accelerate amid rate cuts, that institutional target becomes the base case, not outlier optimism. Nobody has quantified the liquidity needed to absorb the $75-126k bagholder supply.
"Institutional delta-hedging and net ETF outflows render the $100k BTC target a mathematical impossibility without a significant shift in global liquidity."
Grok, your focus on the 1.55x multiple ignores the opportunity cost of capital in a high-rate environment. Gemini is right to highlight the 'underwater' supply, but both of you miss the structural change: the 2026 market is no longer driven by retail momentum but by institutional delta-hedging. If spot ETFs continue to see net outflows, that $100k target isn't just optimistic—it's mathematically disconnected from current basis trade dynamics and liquidity constraints.
"Bagholder supply is a friction point, not a ceiling—the timing of capitulation matters far more than its existence."
Gemini's delta-hedging framing is sharp, but conflates two separate problems. Institutional ETF inflows can coexist with outflows if they're rotating between products—the net liquidity question matters more than directional flows. More critically: nobody's quantified whether $75-126k bagholder supply actually *prevents* a $100k move, or merely slows it. Historical precedent (2017-2018) shows bagholders capitulate faster than expected once momentum shifts. The real test: do we see capitulation volume or grinding sideways?
"The 1.55x upside to $100k is not guaranteed; funding/derivatives dynamics and policy shocks can derail the upside despite presumed liquidity absorption."
Grok, your focus on a 1.55x upside to $100k hinges on liquidity absorption of underwater holders, but it ignores funding/derivatives risks: if funding costs rise or ETF flows disappoint, that 'modest' multiple could be unattainable as volatility spikes trigger forced selling; the credible downside remains undercalculated—policy shocks or liquidity crunch could derail the SC target even with a Q4 rally.
Despite mixed short-term gains, panelists agree that Bitcoin and Ethereum remain deeply underwater year-over-year, with extreme volatility and significant supply overhang from 'underwater' holders potentially hindering any sustained rally.
Potential acceleration of ETF inflows amid rate cuts, which could drive institutional investment and unlock upside.
Massive supply overhang from 'underwater' holders who bought between $75k and $126k, which could trigger a wave of break-even selling and prevent a sustained rally.