Bitcoin, with the symbol BTC, reached a 12-week high of $79,399 before encountering resistance from sellers during the Asian morning session on Monday, thereby halting its momentum towards the $80,000 mark for the first time since January. By Monday morning, Bitcoin was trading at $77,705, representing a 0.4% decline over the past 24 hours, after peaking at $79,399 around 09:00 IST and subsequently experiencing a sharp downturn throughout the Asia session. Concurrently, Ether declined by 2.4% to $2,329, while Solana and BNB fell by 1.9% and 1.2%, respectively, to $86 and $630.
The rally that propelled Bitcoin to its highest level since January 31 lost steam by mid-morning Singapore time. The upward momentum was initially driven by a report from Axios indicating that Iran had proposed a new plan to the U.S. to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with nuclear talks postponed until after the U.S. naval blockade is lifted.
Asian equities responded positively, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rising 1.7%, the emerging markets index reaching a record high, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing surging 6% to its own record. Meanwhile, Brent crude pared its earlier 2.5% gains to record a 1% increase at $106.50 per barrel. Bitcoin initially moved in tandem with the risk-on sentiment before diverging. The rejection at $79,399 can be attributed to a clean technical explanation.
According to Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets, the $80,000 mark is where many recent buyers are nearing break-even, which historically leads to selling pressure as traders exit positions they had been holding at a loss for weeks. This month, Bitcoin has seen a 16% increase, putting it on track for its first double-digit monthly gain since May 2025. Strategy has acquired $3.9 billion worth of Bitcoin this month, marking the firm's largest monthly accumulation in a year, as per Bloomberg. Funding rates for perpetual futures across major exchanges remain negative on a 7-day basis at -0.13% per Coinglass, indicating that shorts are still paying longs to maintain positions.
This structural setup can lead to a squeeze if the spot price can hold above the $79,000 level, which has now been rejected three times. This week, the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank are set to make policy decisions, and the earnings reports of the four largest U.S. companies by market cap are also due.
Either the Fed's decision or a single earnings beat could provide the catalyst that the Bitcoin market has been lacking. Without such a catalyst, the third rejection from $79,000 in eight sessions may begin to define the range rather than precede a breakout.