The price of bitcoin has fallen on Tuesday after failing to sustain its position above $79,000 for the third time in eight sessions, thereby establishing this level as a defining factor in its current range. As of Tuesday morning, bitcoin was trading at $76,923, marking a 2.4% decline over the past 24 hours. This downturn follows a climb to $79,399 on Monday, which was subsequently reversed. Other major cryptocurrencies such as ether, XRP, solana, and BNB have also experienced significant declines, with ether falling 3.7% to $2,290, XRP slipping 3.2% to $1.39, solana dropping 3.9% to $84.10, and BNB declining 1.8% to $625.
The only exceptions among the top 10 tokens were TRON and DOGE. The surge in oil prices, with Brent crude rising 1% to above $109 a barrel, has been attributed to the failure of Iran's interim deal proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This development has led to a seventh consecutive day of oil price increases.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index remained relatively stable, with Japanese stocks receiving support from the Bank of Japan's decision to maintain its policy unchanged. The yen strengthened by 0.3% to approximately 159 per dollar. Market analysts are offering divergent views on the bitcoin market. Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital believes that the return of U.S.
retail investors, combined with institutional capital and limited supply, creates a strong foundation for further growth. This perspective is supported by Santiment data, which indicates that whales have accumulated over 40,000 BTC in the past two weeks, and a notable shift in sentiment from fear to fear of missing out. In contrast, CryptoQuant's Ki Young-Ju argues that the recent push above $79,000 was primarily driven by a short squeeze in the derivatives market rather than sustained spot demand, leaving the market vulnerable to a reversal once the squeeze is exhausted.
The funding rates on perpetual futures across major exchanges remain negative, indicating that shorts are still paying longs to hold positions, a pattern that historically precedes both squeezes and the unwinding of squeezes. These two views are not mutually exclusive, as spot demand from retail and institutions can return concurrently with the rally toward $79,000 being front-loaded by short covering. The key test will be whether the next attempt at this level brings fresh spot bids or runs out of shorts to squeeze.
Corporate accumulation of bitcoin continues, with Strategy purchasing $3.9 billion worth of bitcoin in April, its largest monthly accumulation in a year. Japanese company Metaplanet has announced a $50 million bond issuance to finance new bitcoin purchases, further expanding its corporate bitcoin treasury. The upcoming week is expected to be significant, with the Federal Reserve announcing its policy decision on Wednesday, and major tech companies such as Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Apple releasing their earnings reports. These events could potentially serve as catalysts to push bitcoin past $80,000, or alternatively, the rejection from this level may define the upper end of the range rather than precede a breakout.