Bitcoin Sees Uptick as Tech Earnings Boost Market Sentiment, Short-Term Challenges Persist

This excerpt is from CoinDesk's 'Daybook' newsletter. Subscribe now for more insights. Bitcoin's price rose to $77,400, rebounding alongside other risk assets after major US tech companies' earnings reports helped stabilize the market. The increase followed Apple's earnings report, which, along with those of Google's parent Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon, showed double-digit revenue growth. Although risk assets saw a boost due to renewed confidence in the AI growth story, the current upswing is attributed more to relief buying than a conviction that a new rally has begun. According to crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin, the market faces 'short-term pressure with mixed structural factors,' including lower hopes for rate cuts, ETF outflows, and increased geopolitical risks. Despite oil price surges and over $400 million in outflows from spot bitcoin ETFs, crypto prices remained stable. The Iran conflict and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz have led to higher crude prices, potentially fueling inflation and making central banks less likely to cut interest rates, which could negatively impact crypto and other risk assets. The Federal Reserve's decision to maintain rates at 3.50% to 3.75%, with four dissenting voices, has led markets to reevaluate policy expectations. Mercado Bitcoin's head of research, Rony Szuster, noted, 'In the short term, the market should remain volatile and highly reactive to economic data. In the medium term, the structure remains dependent on the stabilization of institutional flows and the path of global monetary policy.' With Jerome Powell's term as Fed chair ending on May 15 and Kevin Warsh expected to chair the June FOMC meeting, volatility may increase due to Warsh's preference for tighter monetary policy. The key challenge for bitcoin remains at the $80,000 level; a breakthrough could attract new buyers, while a failed attempt may trigger selling. For more analysis on altcoins and derivatives, visit Crypto Markets Today, and for upcoming events, see CoinDesk's 'Crypto Week Ahead.' Today's signal indicates a weekly test of the $80,000 resistance zone, with the RSI showing early signs of a bullish divergence, though unconfirmed on a weekly close. Failure to break above this level may keep the price range-bound between the 200-day exponential moving average of about $68,000 and the $80,000 level.