Bitcoin, with the symbol BTC, reached a 12-week high of $79,399 during overnight trading before encountering significant selling pressure in the Asian morning session on Monday, which halted its rally and prevented it from reaching $80,000 for the first time since January. As of Monday morning, Bitcoin was trading at $77,705, representing a 0.4% decline over the past 24 hours, after having surged to $79,399 around 09:00 IST and then sharply reversing course during the Asian session. Meanwhile, other major cryptocurrencies also experienced declines, with Ether dropping 2.4% to $2,329, Solana falling 1.9% to $86, and BNB decreasing 1.2% to $630.
The rally that propelled Bitcoin to its highest level since January 31 lost momentum by mid-morning Singapore time. The initial upward push was triggered by a report from Axios indicating that Iran had proposed a new plan to the U.S.
to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with nuclear talks postponed until after the U.S. naval blockade is lifted.
This development led to a surge in Asian equities, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rising 1.7%, the emerging markets index reaching a record high, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing experiencing a 6% increase to its own record. Brent crude also pared its earlier 2.5% gains to end up 1% at $106.50 a barrel. Initially, Bitcoin traded in tandem with the risk-on move but then diverged. The rejection at $79,399 can be explained by technical factors.
According to Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets, the $80,000 mark is where many recent buyers are approaching breakeven, which historically leads to selling pressure as traders exit positions they have been holding at a loss for weeks. Bitcoin has experienced a 16% increase in April, putting it on track for its first double-digit monthly gain since May 2025. Strategy has bought $3.9 billion of Bitcoin this month, according to Bloomberg, marking the firm's largest monthly accumulation in a year. Funding rates on 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 can lead to a squeeze if the spot price can hold above the $79,000 level, which has now been rejected three times. With the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank both having policy decisions this week, and megacap tech earnings including the four largest U.S. companies by market cap, either the Fed or a single earnings beat could provide the catalyst the Bitcoin market has been missing. Without such a catalyst, the third rejection from $79,000 in eight sessions may start to define the range rather than precede a breakout.