Bitcoin Slips Below $80,000 as ETH, SOL, and DOGE Retreat Amid Profit-Taking

Following a brief approach to the $80,000 threshold on Tuesday, Bitcoin has experienced a slight pullback, trading at $77,794 at the time of writing, which still represents a 0.4% gain over the past 24 hours after reaching a high of $79,388 before gradually declining during the overnight session. The 24-hour low of $77,464 was recorded on Thursday morning, indicating a move of about $1,900. Meanwhile, Ether slipped 0.7% to $2,344, XRP fell 1.7% to $1.42, Solana dropped 1.5% to $85.83, and BNB declined 0.6% to $635. The price of Brent crude remained above $95 per barrel as the US continued its naval blockade on ships traveling to and from Iranian ports, while Iran kept the Strait closed to nearly all international traffic. Iranian gunboats fired upon commercial vessels in the waterway on Wednesday. The April 7 ceasefire declared by Trump remains in place indefinitely, but Vice President JD Vance's planned visit to Islamabad on Tuesday was canceled after Iran declined to send a delegation. According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Trump has not set a specific deadline for an Iranian proposal. The divergence among the top 10 cryptocurrencies supports the positioning read, with Bitcoin rising 4% on the week, while all other major cryptocurrencies have remained within a 2% range, with Ether and Solana actually experiencing declines. When a rally is concentrated in one asset while the rest of the complex fades, the source of the bid is usually narrow rather than broad. In contrast to this view, Bitpanda CEO Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad argued that the overnight push toward $80,000 signals maturity and resilience in the digital asset industry, driven by institutional participation and clearer regulatory frameworks. However, this perspective is harder to reconcile with a market where Bitcoin is leading alone, accompanied by thin altcoin participation and negative funding rates for approximately 47 consecutive days, one of the longest stretches of bearish derivatives positioning on record. A drop below $76,000 would indicate that the $79,388 high marked the top for this leg, and the next move would require either genuine progress in Iran or a shift in the funding rate picture that pulls real capital back in.