Bitcoin, with the symbol BTC, reached a 12-week high of $79,399 before encountering strong selling pressure during the Asian morning session on Monday, thereby halting its rally that had positioned it for a potential surge to $80,000 for the first time since January. On Monday morning, Bitcoin was trading at $77,705, representing a 0.4% decline over the past 24 hours, after having climbed to $79,399 around 09:00 IST and subsequently reversing its course sharply throughout the Asian session. Meanwhile, Ether experienced a 2.4% decline to $2,329, Solana dropped 1.9% to $86, and BNB decreased by 1.2% to $630. The rally that propelled Bitcoin to its highest level since January 31 dissipated by mid-morning Singapore time.
This 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.
Asian equities responded positively to this development, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rising 1.7%, the emerging markets index reaching a record high, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing surging 6% to set its own record. Brent crude pared its earlier 2.5% gains to record a 1% increase at $106.50 per barrel. Initially, Bitcoin traded in line with the risk-on move but then diverged from it.
The rejection at $79,399 can be attributed to a clean technical explanation. 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 those traders exit positions they had 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. This month, Strategy has purchased $3.9 billion worth of Bitcoin, as reported by 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, which sets up a structural setup that could lead to a squeeze if the spot price can hold above the $79,000 level that has now been rejected three times. This week, the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank are scheduled to make policy decisions, and the earnings of megacap tech companies, including the four largest U.S. companies by market capitalization, are also due.
Either the Fed's decision or a single earnings beat could provide the catalyst that the Bitcoin market has been lacking. Without such a catalyst, the third rejection from the $79,000 level in eight sessions may start to define the range rather than precede a breakout.