Unveiling the Route to $80K — 5 Key Aspects to Understand in Bitcoin this Week

Bitcoin (BTC) is starting the second week of April with a strong bullish momentum, surging past $70,000 and moving closer to its all-time highs. The anticipation for further upside is palpable among traders, especially with the upcoming block subsidy halving just ten days away. As miners prepare for the reward per block to drop 50%, network fundamentals and difficulty levels are crucial factors to monitor. On the macroeconomic front, market sentiment remains cool as the odds of a swift interest rate cut from the United States Federal Reserve are being priced out. This week, key BTC price topics to watch include the potential for a retracement, gaps in the CME Group’s Bitcoin futures market, and the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) data for March. Additionally, Bitcoin miners are bracing for cost upheaval as the halving approaches, with mining costs set to double. However, revenue flows may be preserved after the halving due to the advent of Bitcoin Ordinals and increasing fees. Despite a month of consolidatory price action, Bitcoin network fundamentals, such as mining difficulty and hash rate, are stronger than ever. Finally, Bitcoin’s long-term holders (LTHs) have become active sellers at current prices, but this should not result in sell-side pressure overwhelming the market. History shows that LTH entities tend to shed around 14% of the BTC supply in bull markets, and so far, less than half of this has been sold, which suggests that new demand can absorb the selling pressure and push prices higher.