Bitcoin climbed 2% in the past 24 hours to trade above $79,000 on Sunday night, while most Asian equity markets moved higher to start the week.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.4% to hit a record high, South Korea’s Kospi added 1.9% to reach a new peak, China’s CSI 300 gained 0.35%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.06%.
ETF inflows and sentiment shift
U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded a weekly inflow of $823.7 million last week, marking their fourth consecutive week of positive flows.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index rose to 47, returning to the “Neutral” zone from around 29 in “Fear” last week and 12 in “Extreme Fear” last month.
Dominick John, an analyst at Zeus Research, told The Block:
“Crypto’s upside is being driven by steady ETF inflows and a structural breakout above key technical levels, reinforcing a strong underlying bid. At the same time, subdued geopolitical tensions have eased risk-off sentiment, with the Fear & Greed Index shifting from fear toward neutral.”
John added:
“This points to a market transitioning back into measured risk-on positioning.”
Traders eye key resistance zone
Nick Ruck, director of LVRG Research, noted that the price movement stems from a mix of renewed risk appetite, a technical breakout, and revised positioning following bitcoin’s reclamation of key resistance levels.
Ruck said:
“The move can stretch longer if spot demand keeps leading, but traders are mainly watching whether BTC can hold above the $80,000 to $83,000 zone.”
Ruck added that traders will also be monitoring the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on April 29, along with other key economic data releases.
US-Iran tensions absorbed
On Saturday, President Trump abruptly canceled plans to send U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan for negotiations with Iran, citing wasted travel time and confusion within Iran’s leadership.
Despite the development, bitcoin held its upward momentum.
Min Jung, research associate at Presto Research, said previous narratives like U.S.-Iran tensions have “largely been absorbed,” with investors showing fatigue and no longer reacting meaningfully to those headlines.
Jung noted that for the current week, traders are mainly focused on the FOMC meeting and a heavy slate of big tech earnings as the key drivers of direction.
