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Bitcoin continues to trade without a clear direction and remains stuck around the $66,000 mark, in a market environment dominated by geopolitical tensions and lingering uncertainty about the global economy. After briefly dipping below that level, the cryptocurrency attempted to stabilize, but the broader backdrop still does not appear particularly supportive of a genuine bullish restart. Ether is following a similar path, also trapped in a hesitant market despite a modest rebound earlier in the week.
On the institutional side, there have been a few signs of support, particularly with a modest return of inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. That said, the improvement remains too limited to revive lasting optimism. The behavior of corporate players also reflects this lack of conviction: some companies are scaling back or pausing their purchases, while others continue accumulating despite a less favorable equity market backdrop. Overall, the market appears caught between caution and opportunism.
More broadly, external forces are still setting the tone. Rising oil prices, persistent inflation concerns, the possibility of higher interest rates for longer, and geopolitical developments in the Middle East are all weighing on risk appetite. In that context, Bitcoin is trading within a very tight range, influenced more by short-term liquidity moves than by genuine buyer or seller conviction. The lack of market depth is also making prices increasingly sensitive to every macroeconomic or political headline.
For the second quarter, several analysts believe the market could soon emerge from this waiting phase, but the outcome remains highly dependent on the global backdrop. If international tensions intensify and energy prices continue to climb, risk assets could come under renewed pressure. On the other hand, a rapid easing of geopolitical tensions could help restore momentum to Bitcoin and encourage a return of speculative interest. For now, the market remains suspended between two scenarios, without a catalyst strong enough to impose a clear trend.
Several crypto-related stocks have fallen sharply from their 2025 highs, but some analysts believe that weakness may now represent an attractive buying opportunity. That is notably the view at Bernstein, which lowered its price targets for Coinbase, Robinhood, and Figure while maintaining positive ratings on all three stocks. The argument is not that upcoming results will be strong — on the contrary, the first quarter could prove disappointing — but rather that the market may have already priced in much of the bad news.
Coinbase remains the company most directly exposed to the health of the crypto market, which helps explain the pressure on its stock. Spot trading volumes have declined meaningfully compared with late 2025, prompting Bernstein to lower its earnings forecasts. Even so, the firm still sees significant medium-term upside, particularly through the growth of its stablecoin-related revenue and the rapid expansion of its derivatives business. In other words, while the short term may look more difficult, several key growth drivers remain firmly in place.
Robinhood and Figure are viewed as somewhat more resilient because their future is less directly tied to an immediate rebound in Bitcoin or the broader crypto market. For Robinhood, the expansion of prediction markets could become an important source of revenue in the coming years, partially offsetting weakness in more traditional digital asset activities. Figure, for its part, continues to bet on tokenization and the use of blockchain in finance, while expanding its presence beyond its initial core niches.
Overall, Bernstein believes these stocks still offer meaningful exposure to several segments expected to grow substantially, including stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, crypto derivatives, and prediction markets. While caution remains warranted in the short term, especially with potentially weak quarterly results approaching, the research firm believes a bottom may soon begin to form in this segment of the market. For investors with a higher tolerance for volatility, the current pullback may therefore look more like a repositioning phase than a sign of lasting structural weakness.
BitMine Immersion Technologies, led by Tom Lee, is continuing to actively pursue its Ethereum accumulation strategy, having recently added more than 70,000 ETH, or roughly $146 million worth of ether. This latest purchase brings its total reserves to several million ETH, representing a multi-billion-dollar position. At the same time, the company also holds a smaller Bitcoin position and a significant amount of cash, confirming a strategy that is clearly centered on Ethereum as its primary digital asset.
By contrast, Strategy — a major player known for its regular Bitcoin purchases — temporarily paused its acquisition program at the end of the quarter. This slowdown does not appear to signal any strategic shift, but rather reflects a recurring pause often observed around financial closing periods. Since beginning its accumulation in 2020, the company has built a massive Bitcoin reserve, solidifying its position as one of the largest institutional holders of the asset.
Tom Lee has emphasized the recent resilience of cryptocurrencies in a tense geopolitical environment, noting that ether and the broader crypto market have held up better than several traditional assets. In his view, these assets are increasingly behaving like stores of value during periods of uncertainty. He also points to a growing relationship between energy prices and financial markets: rising oil prices tend to pressure equities while indirectly influencing cryptocurrencies as well. Even so, he believes the crypto market is currently in the final stage of a consolidation phase before a possible rebound.
Google recently made official its intention to transition all of its systems to so-called post-quantum cryptography by 2029, a sign that the threat posed by quantum computing is no longer being viewed as a distant theoretical concern. The company now believes progress in this field is moving faster than expected, to the point where it has become necessary to prepare now for the eventual obsolescence of current cryptographic standards. Put simply, several of the security mechanisms that protect the internet today could one day become vulnerable to sufficiently powerful quantum machines.
That reality naturally raises questions for Bitcoin, whose security partly relies on cryptographic signatures that could, over the very long term, be compromised by this kind of technology. In theory, a sufficiently advanced quantum computer could derive a private key from a public key, potentially putting certain addresses and funds at risk. The issue is not immediate, but it is serious enough to warrant attention today, especially as technical estimates regarding the power required to break these systems continue to come down.
That said, there is no reason to panic. Google is not saying that a quantum computer capable of breaking current cryptographic systems will necessarily exist by 2029; rather, the company is saying it wants to be ready before that moment arrives. On Bitcoin’s side, developers have already begun exploring solutions, including proposals designed to prepare the network for address formats and security mechanisms that would be more resistant in a quantum era. The real challenge, however, is not purely technical — it is also organizational.
Unlike a major technology company, Bitcoin cannot impose change in a centralized manner. Any transition toward post-quantum standards would require complex coordination between developers, miners, exchanges, wallet providers, and users around the world. And that is precisely where the core issue lies: even if the threat is not imminent, the time required to adapt a decentralized network of this scale could be considerable. In other words, Google’s warning does not mean Bitcoin is doomed, but it does serve as a reminder that the ecosystem likely cannot afford to wait until the last minute to prepare.
Bitcoin is currently showing an unusual market setup that could support a short-term technical rebound. After briefly falling below $65,000, the asset triggered a particularly strong buying response around that level, suggesting that a local bottom may have formed. In other words, selling pressure appears to have temporarily run out of steam, while buyers stepped in aggressively at what was seen as an attractive zone.
Market data indeed points to a notable imbalance between buy and sell orders near $65,000, with buyers clearly dominating across multiple levels of order book depth. This kind of signal is relatively rare and often reflects effective absorption of downside pressure. Adding to that is a more encouraging structural shift on short-term charts, reinforcing the idea that a relief move could take shape if Bitcoin manages to hold key levels above $66,700.
Another factor supporting this scenario is the large concentration of leveraged short positions sitting higher up, particularly around $71,000. If price continues to move upward, those positions could be forced to close, adding further upside momentum. This mechanism, commonly referred to as a “short squeeze,” could amplify what might otherwise be just a simple technical bounce and accelerate the move if the right conditions align.
That said, the market is not fully in the clear. The start of April has historically at times coincided with temporary local bottoms, which supports the rebound case. However, Mondays have also often been marked by early strength followed by renewed selling pressure. Bitcoin therefore finds itself in a key decision zone: the conditions for a relief rally are indeed present, but they will need to confirm quickly if the market is to make a more serious push toward the $71,000 area.
The presented information is as of March 31st, 2026, unless otherwise indicated and is provided for information purposes only. The information comes from sources that we believe are reliable, but not guaranteed. This statement does not provide financial, legal or tax advice. Rivemont Investments are not responsible for any errors or omissions in the information or for any loss or damage suffered.
