Bitcoin experienced a significant rally, touching $73,000 before settling at $72,000 at the time of writing, representing a 3% surge from the previous session. According to data from CoinGecko, the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies combined rose 1.4% to $2.52 trillion on Friday, April 10. The market rally began in late U.S. hours after news broke that Iran was looking into accepting Bitcoin for oil cargo ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz. Ethereum surged past $2,200 while other top 10 major crypto assets were also seen in the green territory. The sudden uptick in crypto prices caught short sellers off guard, with data from CoinGlass showing that over $250 million of short positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, compared to $95 million in long positions.
The rebound coincided with de-escalation signals from Trump's comments, leading to approximately $250 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, of which 73% involved short positions, as reported by WazirX Market's Desk. The sudden uptick in crypto prices caught short sellers off guard, who were then forced to buy back assets, fueling the crypto market rally. Crypto ETFs also played a significant part in supporting market gains, with spot Bitcoin ETFs drawing in $343 million in net inflows on Thursday, while their Ethereum counterparts drew in $85 million, according to data compiled by SoSoValue. Both investment products had recorded outflows over the past two days.
Corporate accumulation continued to support the sector, with Strategy acquiring 46,233 BTC over just over a month, outpacing the roughly 16,200 BTC mined in the same period by nearly three times, according to The Economic Times. This institutional buying continues to provide support and help absorb selling pressure in the market. The institutional participation trend reflects growing confidence in digital assets despite short-term volatility. CoinSwitch Markets Desk noted that BTC futures open interest has jumped 8.09% in the last 24 hours, showing traders are increasing leveraged positions. Akshat Siddhant, Lead quant analyst at Mudrex, noted that the institutional buying continues to provide support, with Strategy adding 4,871 BTC over the past week, helping absorb selling pressure.
From a technical standpoint, Bitcoin faces strong resistance near $70,000–$72,000, with a confirmed breakout potentially extending the rally toward fresh highs, while failure to hold $68,000 risks a short-term correction, said Riya Sehgal, Research Analyst, Delta Exchange to The Economic Times. CoinSwitch Markets Desk noted that BTC is now at a crucial zone, holding above $70K could open room toward $71.5K–$73K, while slipping below $69K may lead to a short-term drop toward $68.5K. However, there remains key concerns that could potentially derail crypto prices again. First, the stability of the ceasefire remains quite shaky as Iran has so far failed to comply with the specific terms of the agreement, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening the regime to uphold its side of the deal or face strikes. Second, recent U.S. economic data have pointed out that inflation has continued to remain stickier than expected, with the core PCE index rising by 0.4% on Thursday, which might force the Federal Reserve to maintain a hawkish stance and hence delay interest rate cuts.
