Bitcoin hovers near $77K

Bitcoin spent this week doing something that looks calm on the chart but feels tense underneath. It hovered near $77,000 ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting, then dropped toward $75,000 once the decision landed. That matters because crypto had just put together a decent April rebound, and the question was whether that move had real conviction behind it. Turns out the answer, for now, is only partly. ### Why was $77,000 such a focus? Because that level sat right at the center of the market’s short-term tug-of-war. Bitcoin traded around $77,100 on April 29 after moving between roughly $75,689 and $77,837 intraday, with traders clearly waiting for the Fed rather than chasing a breakout. The setup was simple — if macro stayed friendly, bitcoin had room to keep grinding higher; if the Fed sounded tougher, that range could break lower. (theblock.co) ### What did the Fed actually do? The Fed held rates steady on April 29, and the vote was unusually divided. That split mattered more than the no-change decision itself, because it made the policy path look less settled and kept the “higher for longer” risk alive. Risk assets don’t love that. Bitcoin fell after the announcement, and one crypto market report had it touching about $75,000 as traders dialed back risk. (msn.com) ### Why does that hit crypto so fast? Crypto is still a liquidity trade a lot of the time. When traders think rates will stay higher, borrowing stays expensive, the dollar tends to stay firmer, and the appetite for leveraged bets cools off. Add oil above $100 and broader macro nerves, and bitcoin stops trading l(msn.com)ek. (coindesk.com) ### What was the ETF signal? The cleanest warning sign came before the Fed. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs posted about $263 million in net outflows on April 27, ending a nine-day inflow streak. That doesn’t mean institutions suddenly turned bearish. But it does tell you the steady bid that helped push bitcoin higher through April weakened right as the market headed into a major policy event. (theblock.co) ### Was this just a bitcoin story? Not really. The rest of crypto looked weaker. CoinDesk noted that while bitcoin sat almost still near $77,000 ahead of the Fed, major altcoins were already giving back gains. That kind of divergence usually tells you traders are getting more selective. Bitcoin can sometimes hold up as the “safer” crypto asset, but when altcoins fade first, it often means overall risk appetite is thinning. (coindesk.com) ### What about liquidations? Liquidations were part of the pressure, but not the whole story. CoinGlass showed total crypto liquidations at more than $350 million over 24 hours when checked today, with long positions taking most of the damage. That fits the broader pattern — traders came into the week leaning the wrong way for a clean continuation higher, then had to unwind when macro went against them. (coinglass.com) ### So is the rally broken? Not necessarily. Bitcoin was still up strongly over April even before this week’s wobble, and the market had already shown it could recover from a rough start to 2026. But the easy version of the rebound looks over. If ETF demand resumes and macro stress cools, bitcoin can stabilize quickly. If not, the market may keep chopping lower as leverage gets cleared out. (coindesk.com) ### Bottom line Bitcoin near $77,000 was never the whole story. The real story was a market testing whether April’s rebound could survive a tougher macro backdrop. This week’s answer was cautious at best — not a collapse, but a reminder that crypto still needs liquidity, ETF demand, and a friendlier Fed to turn a bounce into something sturdier.