Bitcoin Faces Resistance at $80,000, Analyst Sees Temporary Pullback

Bitcoin, currently trading at $76,610.60, is experiencing a familiar pattern just shy of the $80,000 mark, hindered by sellers despite fresh stablecoin liquidity and ETF demand suggesting a potential breakout. The cryptocurrency briefly surpassed $79,000 during Asian trading hours before retreating to trade below $78,000, resulting in a 0.4% loss over the past 24 hours. Ether has dropped 0.6%, XRP is down 0.8%, and Solana's SOL has fallen over 1%, with broader market benchmarks also under pressure. According to FxPro's chief market analyst, Alex Kuptsikevich, the $80,000 level is acting as a near-term barrier due to concentrated sell orders, but he believes the pullback is temporary and aligns with the broader uptrend that began in late March. On-chain and ETF data support this view, with Binance recording a net inflow of roughly $3.4 billion in stablecoins this month and U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs pulling in $2.44 billion in investor money. However, security risks in DeFi continue to impact sentiment, with the SUI-based lending platform Scallop being exploited, resulting in the loss of approximately $142,000, adding to the growing list of attacks this month. DeFi protocols have lost an estimated $623 million to hacks in April alone, underscoring a persistent structural risk for the sector.