Bitcoin, with the symbol BTC, reached a 12-week high of $79,399 before encountering resistance from sellers during the Asian morning session on Monday, thereby halting its ascent towards the $80,000 mark for the first time since January. Bitcoin's price stood at $77,705 on Monday morning, experiencing a 0.4% decline over the past 24 hours after touching $79,399 around 09:00 IST, only to sharply reverse direction throughout the Asian session. Meanwhile, Ether declined by 2.4% to $2,329, Solana dropped 1.9% to $86, and BNB decreased by 1.2% to $630.
By mid-morning Singapore time, the rally that propelled bitcoin to its highest level since January 31 had unwound. The surge was initially fueled 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 news sparked a positive reaction in Asian equities, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rising 1.7%, the emerging markets index reaching a record high, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing surging 6% to a new record. Brent crude also pared its earlier 2.5% gains to finish 1% higher at $106.50 a barrel.
Although bitcoin initially followed the risk-on trend, it eventually deviated from this path. 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 nearing breakeven, which historically leads to selling pressure as traders exit positions they had been holding at a loss for weeks. With a 16% increase in April, bitcoin is on track for its first double-digit monthly gain since May 2025.
Additionally, strategy bought $3.9 billion worth of bitcoin this month, marking the firm's largest monthly accumulation in a year, as reported by Bloomberg. The 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, creating 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 set to make policy decisions, and megacap tech earnings will include the four largest U.S. companies by market cap.
Either the Fed's decision or a single earnings beat could provide the catalyst the bitcoin market has been lacking. Without such a catalyst, the third rejection from $79,000 in eight sessions may start to define the range rather than precede a breakout.