The price of bitcoin has fallen on Tuesday after failing to sustain its position above $79,000 for the third time in eight sessions, thereby establishing this level as a defining factor in its current range. On Tuesday morning, bitcoin was trading at $76,923, marking a 2.4% decline over the past 24 hours after reaching $79,399 on Monday and subsequently reversing its gains throughout the day.
Other notable cryptocurrencies such as ether, XRP, solana, and BNB also experienced significant declines, with ether falling 3.7% to $2,290, XRP slipping 3.2% to $1.39, solana dropping 3.9% to $84.10, and BNB declining 1.8% to $625. The top 10 tokens all traded in the red over the past 24 hours, with the exception of TRON and DOGE. Meanwhile, Brent crude oil rose 1% to above $109 a barrel, extending its rally to a seventh day after Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz failed to advance over the weekend. The White House has stated that U.S.
officials are discussing the latest Iranian proposal while maintaining their 'red lines' on any deal to end the eight-week war. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index remained largely unchanged, with Japanese stocks supported by the Bank of Japan's decision to keep its policy unchanged.
The yen strengthened 0.3% to around 159 per dollar. Market analysts are currently considering two possible interpretations of the bitcoin market.
Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital has noted that U.S. retail investors have returned to the market, and the combination of retail demand, institutional capital, and limited supply creates a foundation for further upside.
According to Santiment data, whales have accumulated over 40,000 BTC in the past two weeks, and the firm has observed a sharp shift in sentiment from fear to fear of missing out. However, analysis firm CryptoQuant has taken a contrasting view, with founder Ki Young-Ju stating that bitcoin's push above $79,000 was primarily driven by a short squeeze in the derivatives market rather than sustained spot demand. Young-Ju also noted that large-scale short covering leaves the market vulnerable to a reversal once the squeeze exhausts. Funding rates on perpetual futures across major exchanges remain negative on a 7-day basis, meaning shorts are still paying longs to hold positions.
This pattern historically precedes both squeezes and the unwinding of squeezes. The two views are not mutually exclusive, as spot demand from retail and institutions can return at the same time as the rally toward $79,000 was front-loaded by short covering. The test is whether the next attempt at the level brings fresh spot bids or runs out of shorts to squeeze. Corporate accumulation continues regardless, with Strategy buying $3.9 billion of bitcoin in April, the firm's largest monthly accumulation in a year.
Japanese company Metaplanet has announced a $50 million bond issuance to finance new bitcoin purchases, the latest in a series of yen-denominated debt deals the firm has used to build one of the largest corporate bitcoin treasuries outside the U.S. The week's catalysts are expected to arrive on Wednesday and Thursday, with the Federal Reserve announcing its policy decision on Wednesday and megacap tech earnings from major companies such as Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta on Wednesday and Apple on Thursday. Either the Fed or a strong earnings beat could be the catalyst to push bitcoin past $80,000. Without one, the rejection from the level starts to define the upper end of the range rather than precede a breakout.