Bitcoin Sees Uptick as Tech Earnings Boost Market Sentiment, But Short-Term Challenges Persist

This excerpt is from the CoinDesk newsletter 'Daybook.' To stay updated, sign up here if you haven't already. Bitcoin reached $77,400, rising alongside other risk assets following the release of earnings reports from major US tech companies, which helped stabilize the markets. The gains followed Apple's earnings report, which, along with those of Google's parent company Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon, all showed double-digit revenue growth. These reports lifted risk assets as renewed confidence in AI growth brought investors back to equities and crypto, though the current bounce is more indicative of relief buying than the start of a new rally. According to crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin, the market is experiencing short-term pressure due to mixed structural factors, including reduced hopes for rate cuts, ETF outflows, and increased geopolitical risk. Despite oil prices surging and over $400 million in outflows from spot bitcoin ETFs at the end of April, crypto prices held steady. Oil remains a significant factor, as higher crude prices due to the Iran conflict could fuel inflation, making central banks less likely to cut interest rates, which in turn could negatively impact crypto and other risk assets by making cash and bonds more attractive. The Federal Reserve's decision to keep rates between 3.50% and 3.75%, with four dissenting voices, led markets to reassess policy expectations. According to Mercado Bitcoin's head of research, Rony Szuster, 'In the short term, the market is expected to remain volatile, reacting highly to economic data. In the medium term, the structure will depend on the stabilization of institutional flows and the path of global monetary policy.' With Jerome Powell's term as Fed chair ending on May 15 and Kevin Warsh expected to lead the June FOMC meeting, which could introduce volatility due to Warsh's preference for tightening monetary policy, the key test for bitcoin remains at $80,000. Breaking this level could attract new buyers, while a failed attempt may trigger selling if leveraged long positions are unwound. For more analysis on today's altcoin and derivatives activity, see Crypto Markets Today, and for a comprehensive list of this week's events, refer to CoinDesk's Crypto Week Ahead. Currently trending is the bitcoin price testing resistance at $80,000, with the RSI showing early signs of a bullish divergence, though this remains unconfirmed on a weekly close. Failure to break above this level keeps the price range-bound between the 200-day exponential moving average of about $68,000 and the $80,000 level.