London, April 20, 2026, 10:07 BST
Bitcoin hovered close to $74,731 on Monday, after whipping between $73,831 and $76,209 earlier in the day. The token slipped roughly 0.7% from its prior close. Ether—No. 2 by market cap—was trading near $2,295, also posting a decline for the day.
This shift is notable: bitcoin’s been trading more like a risk-on asset than a haven lately, with investors quick to unload as anxiety creeps in. European stocks slipped, Brent crude surged 5.3% to $95.19 a barrel, and optimism around a lasting U.S.-Iran ceasefire faded, leaving broader markets decidedly wary.
Fresh tensions flared after the U.S. seized an Iranian cargo ship, prompting the dollar to climb, according to Reuters. Tehran indicated it would skip a second round of talks, adding to market jitters. Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, pointed to “fresh worries” around the ceasefire’s stability, noting investors remain nervous. Reuters
The retreat followed just days after fresh money had begun trickling back into digital assets. CoinShares’ weekly update recorded $1.1 billion in inflows for digital-asset investment products last week—the biggest tally since early January. Bitcoin products took in $871 million of that total. Research head James Butterfill pointed to a rebound in risk appetite, citing hopes for a ceasefire and cooler U.S. inflation and spending figures.
Late last week, optimism wavered as price action told the story. Bitcoin climbed to $75,375 on Friday, briefly buoyed by what looked like a cooling in Middle East tensions. But Dessislava Ianeva at Nexo Dispatch cautioned that the move was tied to geopolitics, describing the rally as still “fragile.” Barron’s
Bitcoin wasn’t the only one slipping on Monday. Ether, XRP, and solana all ticked down in earlier sessions, pointing to a wider pullback across crypto—not just a bitcoin story.
Still, institutional momentum in crypto remains. Charles Schwab announced Thursday it’s set to introduce spot crypto trading within weeks. Goldman Sachs, for its part, filed for its debut bitcoin ETF just days after Morgan Stanley unveiled a spot bitcoin fund of its own. But as Morningstar’s Bryan Armour pointed out, Goldman’s offering might face “a hard sell” — volatility and downside risk are tough hurdles. Reuters
Bitcoin could be at the mercy of macro trends once more. Citi’s Alex Saunders highlighted the $70,000 mark as a key threshold last month, warning that the bank’s recession scenario still puts bitcoin down at $58,000 if conditions sour further.
That’s part of the reason traders keep hovering around the mid-$70,000s. As MarketWatch pointed out last week, analysts have zeroed in on $75,200 as a major resistance point. Even after bitcoin’s rally this month, it’s still down over 40% from the October 2025 high above $126,000.
