Bitcoin Falls Below $68K as Macro Pressure Weighs on Markets

Bitcoin slipped below the $68,000 mark early Monday, which adds to its recent decline as global market pressures weighed on risk assets. The crypto even went down to around $67,800 during morning trade. At the time of writing, it hovered near $67,583, i.e., a drop of roughly 1.7% over the past 24 hours.

Over the past week, Bitcoin has lost close to 6%, according to CoinGecko. The latest move continues a pattern of lower highs, which suggests that bullish momentum has slowed after earlier attempts to stabilise above the $70,000 range.

Bitcoin Slips Further Amid Uncertain Market

Macro tensions have added to the pressure as well. Over the weekend, President Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The alert raised concerns about possible escalation within the security stakes. In retaliation, Tehran indicated it may shut down the main oil transit route and move to energy infrastructure associated with the United States.

The news rattled world markets and encouraged investor caution. Markets have already been tight. The S&P 500 has slid for the first four weeks in a row now and recently bottomed out below a 200-day moving average which is watched closely by institutional investors. The Nasdaq Composite has also taken a pounding, with both indexes losing between 4% and 5% in this month’s trading period as the trend continues to deepen. An “all out” risk-off trend in crypto has further crystallized. The inflow to Bitcoin-linked investment products has also weakened.

The U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced net outflows of $52.11 million on March 20. Even though this is not a sharp exit, those steady withdrawals yet show a deceleration in institutional buying that had supported prices earlier. Yet, under the surface, some traders point out signs of resilience. Nischal Shetty observed that the market is still consolidating, and is still accumulating, instead of being distributed evenly. That perspective shows indicative of the decline being driven by market position shifts instead of a structural shift.

Technical analysts remain cautious in the near term. Alessio Rastani has cautioned that Bitcoin’s recent bounce was not strong enough to underpin a sustained recovery. In his opinion, the market may still see another downward move before it becomes a fixed base.

Rastani estimates a wide support range from $59,000 to $46,000. Inside this zone, he believes more buy interest will be seen coming. Even if Bitcoin falls below $60,000, he thinks the downside will be more contained thanks to underlying demand. In fact, he does not expect a new all-time high to materialise in 2026,which points instead to a longer consolidation cycle. His outlook challenges the validity of the four-year halving cycle as a standard predictive framework, too.

Markets are getting more complex, Rastani says, and simple cyclical models will cease to capture turning points well. He anchors this sentiment in broader equity trends, one that, at least in his mind, could manifest into a market top over the next several months. Any sustained weakness in equities will continue to weigh on Bitcoin price, especially with the rising correlation of these two markets.

Not all analysts have this cautious stance. Some, including Arthur Hayes, have highlighted the mid-$70,000 range as a potential short-term ceiling rather than a foundation for further gains. Others argue that institutional participation still provides a floor for the market, even if flows have slowed in recent sessions.