Bitcoin’s stuck near $74K after hitting a wall at $76K

# **Bitcoin’s $76K Door Slams Shut—Again**

Bitcoin’s latest attempt to storm past **$76,000** ended in another retreat, this time collapsing under **$74,000**. For two months, the **$76K mark** has acted like an unbreakable barrier—every surge toward it fizzles out, leaving traders in limbo. Though Bitcoin eked out a **1.3% gain** from yesterday, it never truly broke free.

Ether wasn’t spared either, tanking from above **$2,400** before paring losses to finish with a **2.5% daily rise**. Meanwhile, Wall Street’s **Nasdaq soared 2%**, painting a picture of calm contrasting crypto’s wobbles.

### **The Twist: Traders Are Betting Against Bitcoin—Hard**

Despite Bitcoin’s modest climb, the bears are piling in. Binance’s perpetual futures funding rates have been negative for 11 straight sessions, signaling widespread expectations of a drop. Yet here’s the anomaly: open interest is rising, meaning fresh short positions are flooding in—not closing.

This fear-meets-new-bets dynamic has, historically, sparked violent reversals. The 30-day funding rate has been negative for an astonishing 46 consecutive days—a streak last seen during crises like the 2022 FTX collapse or China’s 2021 Bitcoin mining ban. History warns that these crowded short positions rarely end quietly; they often trigger brutal short squeezes when sentiment flips.

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