Bitcoin hit a 12-week high of $79,399 overnight before sellers intervened in the Asian morning hours on Monday, snuffing out a rally that set the asset up to rise to $80,000 for the first time since January.
Bitcoin was trading at $77,705 on Monday morning, down 0.4% in 24 hours after rising to $79,399 around 09:00 IST and reversing sharply during the Asian session. Ether fell 2.4% to $2,329, Solana fell 1.9% to $86, and BNB declined 1.2% to $630. The rally that took bitcoin to its highest level since Jan. 31 halted mid-morning Singapore time.
The upward momentum came in the wake of a report from Axios that Iran offered a new proposal to the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, delaying nuclear talks until the US naval blockade is lifted.
Asian stocks ran on this. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.7%, the emerging markets index hit a record high and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing rose 6% to its own record. Brent crude trimmed earlier gains of 2.5% to rise 1% to $106.50 a barrel.
Bitcoin briefly traded along with the risk-on move and then broke off. The rejection of $79,399 has a clear technical explanation. BTC Markets analyst Rachael Lucas said $80,000 is where many recent buyers are approaching breakeven, historically producing selling pressure as those traders exit positions they were underwater in for weeks.
Bitcoin rose 16% in April, on track for its first double-digit monthly gain since May 2025. Strategy bought $3.9 billion in bitcoin this month according to Bloomberg, the company’s biggest monthly build in a year.
Perpetual futures funding rates on major exchanges remain negative for 7 days at -0.13% by Coinglass, meaning shorts are still paying longs to hold positions, which is the structural setup that produces a squeeze if spot can stay above the recent equilibrium group.
The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank will make policy decisions this week, and mega-cap tech gains include the four largest U.S. companies by market cap.
Either the Federal Reserve or a single earnings increase could provide the catalyst the bitcoin tape is missing. Without one, the third rejection of $79,000 in eight sessions begins to define the range instead of preceding the breakout.
