Bitcoin, currently trading at $76,763.19, is experiencing a familiar pattern just shy of the $80,000 mark, hindered by sellers despite indicators such as fresh stablecoin liquidity, ETF demand, and a risk-positive equity market suggesting a potential breakout. The cryptocurrency briefly surpassed $79,000 in Asian trading hours before retreating below $78,000, resulting in a 0.4% loss over the past 24 hours. Ether has fallen by 0.6%, XRP by 0.8%, and Solana's SOL by over 1%, with broader market benchmarks also under pressure, dropping more than 1% each.
According to Alex Kuptsikevich, FxPro's chief market analyst, the $80,000 level is acting as a short-term barrier due to concentrated sell orders. Kuptsikevich notes that as Bitcoin approaches this round figure, a buildup of sell orders prevents the coin from moving upwards, but argues the pullback seems temporary and aligns with a broader uptrend that started in late March. On-chain and ETF data support this view, with Binance recording a net inflow of roughly $3.4 billion in stablecoins this month and U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs pulling in $2.44 billion in investor money. However, security risks in DeFi continue to impact sentiment, with the SUI-based lending platform Scallop being exploited, resulting in the loss of approximately $142,000.
This adds to a growing list of attacks, including the Drift and KelpDAO exploits, with DeFi protocols losing an estimated $623 million to hacks in April alone. In traditional markets, WTI crude oil prices remain above $90 per barrel, threatening global economic stability with high inflation.