Bitcoin Price Drops Below $74,000 as Resistance Holds Strong

Bitcoin experienced a rapid decline in US morning trade on Thursday, falling 2% in a matter of minutes after failing to break through the resistance level. The cryptocurrency's price dropped to around $73,500 during the US morning session, resulting in a loss of over 1% in the past 24 hours. This downturn occurred after bitcoin was unable to sustain its rise above $75,000. The stock market rally, which had reached record highs for the Nasdaq and S&P 500, also experienced a pause, with both indices down approximately 0.1% in early trading. Crypto-related stocks also declined across the board, with Coinbase, MicroStrategy, Robinhood, and Circle all down around 2%-3% in morning trading. Meanwhile, crude oil prices rose about 2%, reclaiming the $90 level, due to ongoing geopolitical tensions that continue to raise supply concerns. The $75,000-$76,000 range is crucial for bitcoin, as it represents the level at which the cryptocurrency traded before the market crash on February 5 that sent its price down to $60,000. Surpassing this level could indicate a larger move that might bring prices back to around $90,000, the level at which bitcoin started the year. Notably, the correlation between bitcoin and software stocks, which had been strong prior to the conflict in the Middle East at the end of February, has seen bitcoin outperform the software ETF, IGV. However, over the past five days, IGV has caught up, rising by around 11%, while bitcoin has remained flat, suggesting that software stocks may have simply been lagging behind bitcoin and are now catching up.