Bitcoin reclaimed the $66,000 price level on July 21 for the first time in more than a month, extending its recovery as traders rotated back into risk assets. BTC rose about 2% to trade near $66,700, after breaking through a key resistance zone around $66,000 that had capped prices since mid-June. The rally also triggered a wave of short liquidations, with more than $223 million worth of crypto positions wiped out over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass. The rebound follows renewed institutional demand, with U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recording $226.8 million in net inflows on July 20, marking a fifth consecutive day of positive flows, according to Farside Investors.
Bitcoin mining stocks joined the broader crypto recovery, with MARA Holdings (Nasdaq: MARA) rising more than 7% and Cipher Digital (Nasdaq: CIFR) advancing nearly 17%, reflecting improving risk appetite across the sector. The gains come after weeks of pressure on crypto-linked equities as Bitcoin traded below key resistance levels. According to reports from AMBCrypto, the White House agreed to ethics provisions to help gain Democrats' support and unlock the CLARITY Act to pass the final Senate floor vote. Following this update, Bitcoin price extended its relief rally from $63.1K to nearly $67K, marking a 6% jump in the past two days.
Citizens Research launched 'Outperform' coverage of three major Bitcoin miners on Wednesday, assigning price targets that suggest significant upside potential. The firm set $24 on MARA, $27 on CleanSpark (CLSK), and $35 on Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR), representing upside of 59% to 106% from Tuesday's closing prices. As reported by Citizens Research, analyst Greg Miller noted that the need for powered capacity continues to grow and economics for suppliers have improved substantially. The three miners would ride the same trends that have helped most of their peers to dramatically outpace the S&P 500 over the past year, with all three following others' lead rather than pioneering the transition.
When viewed on a year-to-date basis, the mining sector has significantly outperformed Bitcoin on investor returns. As reported by AMBCrypto, BTC was down 24.5% on a YTD basis and traded at $66K as of writing, while MARA stock was up 36% and RIOT had surged a whopping 70% over the same period. The mining segment posted 46% gains in 2026, showing that stockholders outperformed their counterparts who held spot BTC. This divergence may be linked to most of the public miners pivoting to AI infrastructure, as any bullish AI updates have boosted the stocks despite Bitcoin's weakness in H1 2026.
According to reports from AMBCrypto, MARA's VP of investor relations, Robert Samuels, downplayed Morgan Stanley's bearish projection of a 53% fall to $7. Samuels noted that the valuation viewed MARA as a BTC miner, which is not wholly true given its numerous ventures into AI. As of writing, the miner had 36.3K BTC, worth $2.4 billion, after reducing its stash from 53.8K BTC to fund its AI ventures and clear some of its outstanding debt. The sell-off allowed Metaplanet to surpass it as the world's third-largest BTC treasury firm.
