Bitcoin, with the symbol BTC, reached a 12-week high of $79,399 before encountering a wall of sellers during Asian morning trading on Monday, thereby halting its advance towards the $80,000 mark for the first time since January. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $77,705, showing a 0.4% decline over the past 24 hours after peaking at $79,399 around 09:00 IST, only to sharply reverse direction throughout the Asian session. Meanwhile, Ether experienced a 2.4% decline to $2,329, while Solana and BNB fell by 1.9% to $86 and 1.2% to $630, respectively. The rally that propelled Bitcoin to its highest level since January 31 lost momentum by mid-morning in Singapore.
This development followed a report by Axios stating that Iran had presented a new proposal to the U.S. aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, with nuclear talks postponed until after the U.S. naval blockade is lifted.
As a result, Asian equities saw an uptrend, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rising by 1.7%, the emerging markets index reaching a record high, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing surging 6% to a new record. Brent crude oil initially gained 2.5% but later pared its gains to a 1% increase at $106.50 per barrel. Bitcoin initially moved in tandem with the risk-on sentiment but eventually deviated from this trend.
According to Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets, the rejection at $79,399 can be attributed to the fact that $80,000 is the point at which many recent buyers are approaching break-even, which historically leads to selling pressure as traders exit positions that were previously underwater for weeks. This month, Bitcoin has seen a 16% increase, putting it on track for its first double-digit monthly gain since May 2025.
Notably, Strategy has purchased $3.9 billion worth of Bitcoin this month, marking the firm's largest monthly accumulation in a year, as reported by Bloomberg. The 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 hold positions. This structural setup could lead to a squeeze if the spot price can maintain its position above the $79,000 level, which has now been rejected three times. With the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank set to make policy decisions this week, and megacap tech earnings including the four largest U.S.
companies by market capitalization, either the Fed or a single earnings beat could provide the necessary catalyst for the Bitcoin market. Without such a catalyst, the third rejection from the $79,000 level in eight sessions may define the range rather than precede a breakout.