Bitcoin Drops Below $74,000 as Upsurge to Higher Levels Fails Again

Bitcoin quickly retreated in Thursday's US morning trade, plummeting 2% in a matter of minutes after failing to break through the increasingly resistant $75,000-$76,000 range. The cryptocurrency fell to around $73,500 during the US morning session, now down over 1% in the past 24 hours. This move followed another unsuccessful attempt to rise above $75,000. The stock market rally, which had sent the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to record highs the previous day, also experienced a pause, with both indices down about 0.1% over an hour into the session. Crypto-related stocks also declined across the board, with Coinbase, MicroStrategy, Robinhood, and Circle all down roughly 2%-3% in morning trading. Meanwhile, crude oil prices surged about 2%, reclaiming the $90 level, as ongoing geopolitical tensions continued to fuel supply concerns. The $75,000-$76,000 range is crucial for bitcoin, as it represents the level at which the cryptocurrency traded before the February 5 market crash that sent it plummeting to $60,000. A successful rise above this level could indicate a larger move, potentially driving prices back up to around $90,000, the level at which bitcoin started the year. Notably, bitcoin and software stocks had been moving in tandem prior to the Middle East conflict at the end of February, with a near 1:1 correlation. However, since the conflict began, bitcoin has gained over 11%, while the software ETF, IGV, has risen by roughly 2%, prompting speculation about a potential decoupling. Nevertheless, over the past five days, IGV has caught up, surging by as much as 11%, while bitcoin has remained flat, suggesting that software stocks may have simply been lagging behind bitcoin rather than decoupling from it. On Thursday, IGV was up 1%, while bitcoin was down 1.5%.