Bitcoin reached a 12-week high of $79,399 before encountering resistance from sellers during Monday's Asian morning trading hours, thereby halting its ascent towards the $80,000 mark for the first time since January. The cryptocurrency's price stood at $77,705 on Monday morning, representing a 0.4% decline over the past 24 hours, after having briefly touched $79,399 around 09:00 IST.
Meanwhile, other major cryptocurrencies such as Ether, Solana, and BNB experienced declines of 2.4%, 1.9%, and 1.2%, respectively. The upward momentum that propelled Bitcoin to its highest level since January 31 dissipated by mid-morning Singapore time. This development occurred in response to a report from Axios indicating that Iran had proposed a new initiative to the United States aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, with nuclear negotiations postponed until after the lifting of the US naval blockade. The resulting risk-on sentiment triggered a 1.7% increase in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, while the emerging markets index attained a record high, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing surged 6% to reach its own record.
However, Bitcoin's price movement diverged from this trend, and according to analyst Rachael Lucas, the rejection at $79,399 can be attributed to the fact that many recent buyers are approaching breakeven at the $80,000 level, which historically leads to selling pressure. Despite this, Bitcoin has experienced a 16% increase in April, positioning it for its first double-digit monthly gain since May 2025. Moreover, Strategy has acquired $3.9 billion worth of Bitcoin this month, marking the firm's largest monthly accumulation in a year. The negative funding rates on perpetual futures across major exchanges, currently at -0.13% per Coinglass, suggest that shorts are still paying longs to hold positions, creating a structural setup that could lead to a squeeze if the spot price can maintain its position above the $79,000 level, which has now been rejected three times.
With the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank set to announce policy decisions this week, and the release of earnings reports from the four largest US companies by market capitalization, either of these events could provide the catalyst needed to propel Bitcoin's price forward. In the absence of such a catalyst, the repeated rejection from the $79,000 level may define the current trading range rather than precede a breakout.