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Bitcoin rises for a second day, testing key resistance and decoupling from stocks - CNBC
Bitcoin is testing a key resistance level at the $88,000 level for a second day as the cryptocurrency adds to this week’s gains while the stock market tries to recover from another sell-off.
The price of bitcoin was last higher by more than 2% at $89,513.00, according to Coin Metrics. On Monday, it rose about 3%.
Bitcoin is now off its April 7 low by about 20%.
The big up move this week coincided with yet another sell-off in U.S. equities as Trump ratcheted up his pressure campaign on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, demanding he lower rates immediately as the Trump administration explores whether Powell can legally be fired before his term ends in May 2026.
U.S. ETFs that track the price of spot bitcoin logged $381.4 million in inflows on Monday. That was their biggest daily inflow since Jan. 30, when they posted $588.2 million, and their fourth day of inflows in the past five trading sessions.
The cryptocurrency was highly vulnerable to stocks’ tariff-fueled volatility earlier this month but has been decoupling from risk assets in the past week or so. It’s now up more than 7% in April, compared with gold’s 10% gain in that time. The S&P 500 has lost 8% month to date.
“Bitcoin continues showing signs of resilience … up 4% week-over-week versus the S&P 500 down 6%,” said Ed Engel, an analyst at Compass Point, in a note Tuesday. “Bitcoin’s correlation with equities historically approaches 1.0 during macro sell-offs; however, its 30-day correlation with the S&P is just 0.65.”
“While we’re constructive on bitcoin’s recent decoupling, recent strength comes alongside light trading volumes,” he added. “This lowers our conviction that bitcoin can break above the $93,000 resistance level without a significant catalyst like Fed easing or tariff deals. That said, bitcoin’s long-term holders remain steadfast and buying from Strategy is picking up as bitcoin’s liquidity declines … these factors can support further resiliency amid equity and fixed income volatility.”
According to chart analyst Katie Stockton of Fairlead Strategies, the $88,000 level marks key resistance for the cryptocurrency. If cleared, it would be a positive near-term development for bitcoin, putting its next resistance near $95,900, Stockton said.
