The price of Bitcoin has fallen on Tuesday after failing to sustain levels above $79,000 for the third time in eight sessions, establishing this level as a defining range. On Tuesday morning, Bitcoin traded at $76,923, down 2.4% over 24 hours, following a climb to $79,399 on Monday and a subsequent reversal. Meanwhile, Ether dropped 3.7% to $2,290, XRP slipped 3.2% to $1.39, Solana fell 3.9% to $84.10, and BNB declined 1.8% to $625. All top 10 tokens were in the red over the past 24 hours, except for TRON and DOGE.
Brent crude rose 1% to over $109 a barrel, extending its rally for the seventh day, after Iran's proposal for an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz failed to progress over the weekend. The White House indicated that U.S.
officials were discussing the latest Iranian proposal while maintaining 'red lines' on any deal to end the eight-week war. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index remained relatively unchanged, with Japanese stocks supported by the Bank of Japan's decision to keep policy unchanged.
The yen strengthened 0.3% to around 159 per dollar. Among market analysts, two interpretations of the bitcoin market are emerging. Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital 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 identified a sharp shift in sentiment from fear to fear of missing out. In contrast, CryptoQuant's founder Ki Young-Ju argued that bitcoin's push above $79,000 was primarily driven by a short squeeze in the derivatives market rather than sustained spot demand, leaving 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 at -0.13%, indicating that shorts are still paying longs to hold positions, a pattern that historically precedes both squeezes and the unwinding of squeezes.
These 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, with Strategy buying $3.9 billion of bitcoin in April, the firm's largest monthly accumulation in a year. Japanese company Metaplanet announced a $50 million bond issuance on Tuesday to finance new bitcoin purchases, the latest in a series of yen-denominated debt deals used to build one of the largest corporate bitcoin treasuries outside the U.S.
The week's catalysts arrive on Wednesday and Thursday, with the Federal Reserve announcing its policy decision on Wednesday, and megacap tech earnings from major companies representing roughly a quarter of the S&P 500's market capitalization. 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.