Bitcoin Drops Below $74,000 After Failing to Break Higher

In Thursday's US morning trade, the price of Bitcoin BTC $76,108.94 plummeted, falling 2% in a short period after once again failing to overcome the increasingly robust resistance. The world's largest cryptocurrency plummeted to around $73,500 during the US morning session, now down over 1% in the last 24 hours. This downturn occurred after the cryptocurrency was rejected once more following a rise beyond $75,000. Alongside this, the remarkable stock market surge, which sent the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to record highs the previous day, experienced a brief pause. Approximately an hour into the session, both indices were down about 0.1%. Stocks linked to cryptocurrencies also retreated across the board. Coinbase (COIN), Strategy (MSTR), Robinhood (HOOD), and Circle (CRCL) all declined roughly 2%-3% in morning trading. Meanwhile, crude oil prices increased about 2%, reclaiming the $90 mark, as ongoing geopolitical tensions continued to fuel supply concerns. The $75,000-$76,000 range is crucial for bitcoin, as it was the level at which the cryptocurrency traded prior to the market crash on February 5 that sent BTC plummeting to $60,000. Exceeding this level could indicate a larger move, potentially driving prices back up to around $90,000, the mark at which bitcoin began the year. Bitcoin and software stocks were moving almost in tandem before the Middle East conflict at the end of February, with a near 1:1 correlation. During this period, bitcoin outperformed IGV, the software ETF. Since the conflict began at the end of February, bitcoin has gained over 11%, while IGV has risen roughly 2%, prompting speculation that bitcoin was starting to detach from software equities. However, over the past five days, IGV has caught up, rising as much as 11%, while bitcoin has remained flat. This suggests that rather than a clean detachment, software may have simply been lagging behind bitcoin and is now catching up. IGV is up 1% on Thursday, while bitcoin is down 1.5%.