Bitcoin touched a 12-week high of $79,399 overnight before sellers entered the Asian morning hours on Monday, drowning out a rally that sent the asset on a run to $80,000 for the first time since January.
Bitcoin is trading at $77,705 on Monday morning, down 0.4% over 24 hours after rising to $79,399 around 09:00 IST and reversing sharply through the Asia session. Ether fell 2.4% to $2,329, Solana fell 1.9% to $86, and BNB fell 1.2% to $630. The rally, which lifted bitcoin to its highest level since January 31, played out mid-morning Singapore time.
Push higher came on a report from Axios that Iran offered a new proposal to the US to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with nuclear talks on hold until the US naval blockade is lifted.
Asian shares ran along. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.7%, the Emerging Markets index hit a record, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing rose 6% to its own record. Brent crude earlier rose 2.5% to gain 1% to $106.50 a barrel. barrel.
Bitcoin briefly traded with the risk move and then chipped away. The rejection of $79,399 has a purely technical explanation. Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets, said $80,000 is where many recent buyers approach breakeven, which historically produces selling pressure as these traders rotate out of positions they were underwater for weeks.
Bitcoin is up 16% in April, on pace for its first double-digit monthly gain since May 2025. Strategy bought $3.9 billion of bitcoin this month, according to Bloomberg, the firm’s biggest monthly accumulation in a year.
Funding rates on perpetual futures across major exchanges remain negative on a 7-day basis at -0.13% per Coinglass, which means shorts are still paying long to hold positions, which is the structural setup that produces a pressure whose spot can hold above the recent breakeven cluster.
The Federal Reserve and European Central Bank both have policy decisions this week, and megacap tech earnings include the four largest U.S. companies by market capitalization.
Either the Fed or a single earnings beat could provide the catalyst the bitcoin rally has been missing. Without one, the third rejection from $79,000 in eight sessions begins to define the range rather than precede the breakout.
