Bitcoin Still Standing above $76k after DeFi Got Drained, Hormuz Went Haywire and Vercel Got Breached.
Bitcoin Is Being Tested above $76k. Here's What I'm Watching.
This week the crypto market got hit from every direction at once and held.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil flows, flickered open and closed like a light switch over the weekend. Iran opened it Friday, Trump said the blockade stays, Iran closed it Saturday and ships came under fire. Every headline moved Bitcoin. It opened Monday down 2.5%, bounced back toward $75,000 by mid-morning as institutional buyers stepped in, and that has been the pattern all month: macro shock, dip, institutional buy. BlackRock’s IBIT alone pulled $284M in a single day on April 17. The floor is real. But BTC has failed six times to hold above $76K and the Iran ceasefire clock is still ticking. That weekly close above $76K is the signal I’m watching.
On the DeFi side, KelpDAO got exploited on Tuesday. Attackers found a flaw in the way it verified prices before processing large withdrawals and drained $293 million in 46 minutes. The ripple effect hit Aave, essentially a DeFi lending bank, which was left with $196 million in loans it may not fully recover. If you hold, lend, or earn yield on any cross-chain protocol, the full breakdown is worth reading.
Vercel confirmed a breach on April 19. It’s the platform that hosts the frontend of a huge slice of the Web3 ecosystem, the actual websites you interact with when you use a dApp. Compromised via a supply-chain attack through a third-party AI tool. If you connected a wallet to any Web3 dApp this past week, revoke any approvals you don’t recognize. Full CCS breakdown here.
For all the noise, the market didn’t break. Strategy bought 34,164 BTC for $2.55 billion this week. BitMine bought 101,627 ETH for $235 million. Institutions aren’t waiting for the all-clear signal. They’re buying the chaos.
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📊 MARKET ANALYSIS — BITCOIN 4H
BTC is still trading below its 100-day and 200-day moving averages and has failed six times to hold above $76K. Total spot ETF inflows now exceed $56 billion, which is what keeps putting a floor under every dip.
My bias: CAUTIOUSLY BULLISH. The structure holds as long as $75K holds. A weekly close above $76K opens the path to $85K–$90K. A breakdown here puts $70K–$72K back in play. The macro overhang from Iran is the single biggest variable on the board right now.
What I’m watching: A confirmed daily close above $76,500 with above-average volume. Without it, every rally is a wick until proven otherwise.
Support: $73,820 → $70,000–$72,000 | Resistance: $76,000 → $80,000
Signals powered by EngineeringRobo AI
📊 MARKET ANALYSIS — ETHEREUM 4H
ETH opened down 3.7% on the week and is in recovery mode. Bitcoin is leading and ETH is following, which is the healthy version of this setup. The Vercel breach and KelpDAO hack are headwinds for sentiment, not for the price structure itself.
My bias: BULLISH, patient. The next level to watch is $2,701, which is the major resistance before $3,519 comes back into view. ETH outperforming BTC on a percentage basis is the signal I want to see before getting more aggressive.
Support: $2,200 → $2,121 | Target: $2,701 | Range High: $3,519
📰 THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
Vercel confirmed a breach via supply-chain attack through a third-party AI tool, exposing API keys and tokens across Web3 frontends. Solana DEX Orca rotated all credentials immediately. If you connected a wallet to any dApp this week, revoke approvals you don’t recognize. Full CCS breakdown
X’s cashtag trading pilot for stocks and crypto generated an estimated $1 billion in volume in its first week
$400 million in crypto shorts were liquidated in a single 4-hour window during the Hormuz chaos
Michael Saylor says it is “impossible to blockade Bitcoin”
$RAVE collapsed 98% in two days, erasing $6.7 billion in market cap following alleged insider manipulation
India is settling Iranian oil payments in Chinese yuan, a notable de-dollarization signal
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The ceasefire between the US and Iran expires this week. That single variable has more power over Bitcoin’s price right now than any on-chain metric. If talks break down, expect another dip and another institutional buy. If a deal gets done, $76K becomes the story fast.
Watch the daily close. That’s where this week gets decided.
Ashton Addison
Crypto Coin Show
One question before you go.
What’s your biggest concern right now — macro risk, DeFi security, or infrastructure vulnerabilities? Hit reply. I read every response.
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This publication is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or other professional advice. Investments in cryptocurrencies involve significant risk including loss of capital. Always conduct your own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.
The macro shock → dip → institutional buy pattern you're tracking is the clearest structural change since 2022. IBIT pulling $284M on a day when Hormuz was making headlines means institutional desks aren't waiting for geopolitical clarity — they're buying the uncertainty. That's a fundamental shift in who sets the floor. The KelpDAO exploit is worth more attention than it got: $293M drained in 46 minutes via a price oracle flaw shows the DeFi security infrastructure hasn't caught up to TVL growth. I've been tracking the $76,500 weekly close at Beyond The Coin as the same line — how that level holds through ceasefire uncertainty will tell us whether the new institutional bid is structural or situational.
I’ve always stood behind the opinion that ETH and all other altcoins are fully dependent on Bitcoin move. Reverse moves are always temporary. Best scenario for all alts including eth has always been slow steady rise of BTC. Then it reaches the point of popcorn we all want and we all miss so much. Slow BTC decline or fast drops followed by lower highs is death of all alts . I like eth the most of all alts, also fan of XMR and Dual. Peace. Excellent article as always.