Bitcoin hit $79,388 on Wednesday night and has been quietly giving it back ever since.
Bitcoin traded at $77,794 on Thursday morning, up 0.4% in 24 hours after hitting a high of $79,388 at 21:34 IST on Tuesday and declining during the overnight session.
The 24-hour low of $77,464 was set on Thursday morning, meaning the full range of the move was around $1,900. Ether fell 0.7% to $2,344, Bitcoin is the only big positive in 24 hours.
Brent crude remained above $95 a barrel as the United States maintained its naval blockade of ships coming and going from Iranian ports, while Iran kept the Strait closed to almost all other international traffic. Iranian gunboats fired on commercial ships in the waterway on Wednesday.
Trump’s April 7 ceasefire remains in effect “indefinitely,” but Vice President JD Vance’s planned Tuesday trip to Islamabad was canceled after Iran refused to send a delegation. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump has not set a firm deadline for an Iranian proposal.
The divergence in the top 10 supports the positioning reading. Bitcoin is up 4% on the week, all other majors within 2% in either direction, with ether and Solana actually falling.
When a rally is concentrated in one asset while the rest of the complex fades, the source of supply is often narrower than broad.
Bitpanda CEO Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad took the opposite view, arguing that the push towards $80,000 indicates maturity and resilience of the digital asset industry supported by institutional participation and clearer regulatory frameworks.
That framework is harder to reconcile with a market where bitcoin single-handedly leads thin altcoin participation and where funding rates have remained negative for roughly 47 consecutive days, one of the longest periods of derivatives bearish positioning on record.
A fall below $76,000 would mean that the high of $79,388 has printed the top for this leg and the next move requires genuine progress from Iran or a change in the funding rates landscape that attracts real capital again.
