Bitcoin (BTC) blasted through $88,000 just after the Wall Street open on March 25. This spike was largely driven by the market’s response to US trade tariffs hitting risk assets. The cryptocurrency’s performance is now under scrutiny amid potential market manipulation and a major resistance level. The market is showing cautious optimism as traders analyze Bitcoin's correlation with traditional financial markets and the potential impact of upcoming economic events.
Market Optimism and US Trade Tariff Influence
Trading firm QCP Capital summarized in a bulletin to Telegram channel subscribers that some are starting to believe the worst of the equities setback has passed, with JPMorgan sharing this sentiment. QCP recently witnessed a key pivot in the asset-risk rout. On the US government side, tremendous influence came from the US government and president Donald Trump’s announcement on April 2 of their intentions to enact trade tariffs.
Risk assets staged one of their strongest sessions of the year, helped by a temporary easing of fears around the April 2nd tariff deadline. - QCP Capital
US stocks opened with solid gains, continuing on a recovery that had day traders feeling hopeful. Bitcoin’s subsequent price action seems to be following in lockstep with this positive movement in traditional markets.
Key Resistance Levels and Market Manipulation
According to CoinGlass data, there was still active continuing sell-side liquidity right under $90,000. This floor was once said to be due to manipulation in the market by a high-volume trader dubbed “Spoofy the Whale.” Keith Alan, co-founder of popular trading resource Material Indicators, once said something that really stuck with me. He said he envisions this entity capping the price eventually around $87,500. Material Indicators made the phrase popular to describe this market player.
Alan further explained that key level one should turn to support is the annual open, currently located just above $93,000. He warned that not doing so would still risk a relapse back to multi month lows.
BTC/USD Performance and Historical Trends
BTC/USD monthly returns are the subject of intense interest. Statistics from CoinGlass show average returns for BTC/USD in both March and April at just under 13% over the past eleven years.
Q2, and April in particular, has historically been one of the best periods for risk assets, second only to the festive December rally. - QCP
Other analysts have recently been drawing parallels between the BTC/USD 1-day chart and the perpetuals basis. Further, they are eyeing the BTC/USD vs S&P 500 1-day chart to judge market trends and forecast likely future movement.
