Bitcoin, with the symbol BTC, reached a 12-week high of $79,399 before encountering a selling wall during Monday's Asian morning session, thereby curbing its ascent towards the $80,000 mark for the first time since January. The cryptocurrency was trading at $77,705 on Monday, experiencing a 0.4% decline over 24 hours after briefly touching $79,399 around 09:00 IST, only to sharply reverse course during the Asian session.

Other cryptocurrencies followed suit, with Ether dropping 2.4% to $2,329, Solana decreasing 1.9% to $86, and BNB falling 1.2% to $630. By mid-morning Singapore time, the rally that propelled bitcoin to its highest level since January 31 had unwound. The initial push upwards was attributed to a report from Axios stating that Iran had proposed a new plan to the U.S. to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with nuclear discussions postponed until after the U.S.

naval blockade is lifted. This development sparked a risk-on move 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 set its own record.

Brent crude also pared its earlier 2.5% gains to finish up 1% at $106.50 per barrel. Bitcoin initially followed this risk-on move but then diverged. According to Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets, the rejection at $79,399 can be technically explained by the fact that $80,000 is the point at which many recent buyers are approaching breakeven, historically leading to selling pressure as traders exit positions they have been holding at a loss for weeks. Despite this, bitcoin has seen a 16% increase in April, positioning it for its first double-digit monthly gain since May 2025.

Strategy has purchased $3.9 billion worth of bitcoin this month, the largest monthly accumulation in a year, as per Bloomberg. Funding rates for perpetual futures across major exchanges remain negative on a 7-day basis at -0.13%, indicating that shorts are still paying longs to maintain their positions.

This structural setup could 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 set to announce 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 begin to define the range rather than precede a breakout.