Bitcoin (BTC) Breaks Above $90,000 as Paths of Crypto and Equities Diverge

Bitcoin (BTC) surged to $90,000 for the first time since March 7, adding more than 5% in the past five days as the paths of the largest cryptocurrency and traditional equities diverge.

Bitcoin (BTC) price surged above $90,000 for the first time since March 7 on Tuesday, adding more than 5% over five days as the paths of the largest cryptocurrency and traditional equities diverged.

In comparison, the S&P 500 was trading above 5,700 points on March 7 and has since slipped below 5,200.

Bitcoin is still down over 5% year to date despite the recent bounce. It recovered from an April 8 low, when it was down almost 20% on the year and over 30% from its record of around $109,000 in January. That marked the steepest correction of this cycle and dwarfed the August 2024 drawdown, when it slid to $49,000.

From a market structure perspective, the average perpetual funding rate across exchanges is currently negative.

Perpetual funding rates reflect the cost of holding long or short positions in futures markets. When the rate is negative, it means short sellers are paying long holders to maintain their positions, a setup that can accelerate price moves higher because shorts are forced to cover their positions in what’s known as a short squeeze.

Also in bullish momentum, Monday saw the largest single-day inflow into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs since Jan. 30, with over $380 million in total. With the Nasdaq up over 1% in what some market observers are calling “Turnaround Tuesday,” bitcoin may see more gains ahead, though key technical resistance levels still remain.

This article, or parts of it, was generated with assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.UPDATE (April 22, 13:55 UTC): Adds price movement history in third paragraph, market structure starting in fourth.