Bitcoin trapped late buyers at $68,000 with oil still above $100 ahead of a news briefing by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Bitcoin (BTC) teased a fresh break below $66,000 on Tuesday after a bounce sparked a classic bull trap.
Key points:
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Bitcoin sets up a classic bull trap after spiking beyond $68,000.
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A negative Coinbase Premium forms one of several reasons for caution over BTC price action.
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Markets will see a news briefing by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth prior to the Wall Street open.
Bitcoin roundtrips its latest push higher
Data from TradingView showed BTC price action retargeting local lows after briefly spiking above $68,000 after the daily close.
Analyzing spot-market cumulative volume delta (CVD), X analytics account JDK Analysis warned that late buyers were already underwater.
“Earlier price bounced, due to aggressive new longs trying to catch a rebound, getting trapped at the highs yet again,” it wrote.
“Spot selling (real supply), while longs keep opening (adding fuel). If anything, that’s a bull trap.”
Independent analyst Filbfilb flagged low US demand in the form of a negative Coinbase Premium as grounds for further caution.
After a “second strong rejection,” he told Telegram channel subscribers, weak price action during US trading sessions was not a “fantastic sign at the lows.”
As Cointelegraph reported, the Coinbase Premium measures the difference in price between Coinbase’s BTC/USD and Binance’s BTC/USDT pairs. It has been positive for only brief periods since October 2025, per data from onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant.
Traders increasingly expect BTC price drop
Geopolitical nerves continued to dictate market sentiment on the day, with the US Department of Defense scheduled to hold a press briefing at 8 am Eastern time.
Related: Six straight months of losses? Five things to know in Bitcoin this week
The announcement came amid ongoing confusion over the fate of oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.
WTI crude oil climbed above $106 to start the week — its highest since March 9 — before settling slightly lower.
With stock markets on edge, crypto trader Michaël Van de Poppe said that it was “probably better to ask ‘when’ instead of ‘if’ we’re going to see the price of Bitcoin fall.”
“It looks quite clear that every bounce upwards is slammed back down,” he wrote on X, echoing Filbfilb.
“Trend is also still downwards, so I would suggest that early April we’ll be sweeping the lows to get that liquidity going and return back upwards after that.”
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