Bitcoin's price has slipped on Tuesday after failing to sustain levels above $79,000 for the third time in eight sessions, establishing this threshold as a key defining point for the current range. The cryptocurrency's value stood at $76,923 on Tuesday morning, marking a 2.4% decline over the past day, following a climb to $79,399 on Monday that was subsequently reversed.
Other major cryptocurrencies also saw significant declines, with Ether dropping 3.7% to $2,290, XRP falling 3.2% to $1.39, Solana decreasing 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 Brent crude to above $109 per barrel, extending its rally to a seventh consecutive day, was prompted by the failure of Iran's proposal for an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The White House indicated that U.S.
officials were reviewing the latest Iranian proposal while maintaining their 'red lines' on any potential deal to end the eight-week conflict. 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 appreciated 0.3% to approximately 159 per dollar. Market analysts are considering two contrasting interpretations of the bitcoin market.
According to Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital, the return of U.S. retail investors to the market, combined with institutional capital and limited supply, lays the groundwork for further price increases. Data from Santiment reveals that whales have accumulated over 40,000 BTC in the past two weeks, and the firm notes a significant shift in sentiment from fear to fear of missing out. In contrast, CryptoQuant's founder Ki Young-Ju suggests that the 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.
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 their unwinding. These two views are not mutually exclusive, as spot demand from retail and institutions can coexist with the rally toward $79,000 being front-loaded by short covering. The key test will be whether the next attempt to reach this level brings fresh spot bids or exhausts the available shorts to squeeze.
Corporate accumulation of bitcoin continues, with Strategy purchasing $3.9 billion worth of bitcoin in April, the largest monthly accumulation in a year. Japanese company Metaplanet announced a $50 million bond issuance to finance new bitcoin purchases, the latest in a series of yen-denominated debt deals used to build one of the largest corporate bitcoin treasuries outside the U.S. The week's catalysts are expected to arrive on Wednesday and Thursday, with the Federal Reserve's policy decision and megacap tech earnings from major companies like Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Apple.
Either the Fed's decision or a strong earnings beat could serve as the catalyst to push bitcoin past $80,000; without such a catalyst, the rejection from this level may define the upper end of the range rather than precede a breakout.