Crypto recap: S, APT, TAO post double digit gains as  Bitcoin eyes $100K breakout

Bitcoin’s struggle to return above six-figures continued today as the crypto market continued to see sideways action amid macroeconomic concerns and sell-off scares.

The broader crypto market shed some value over the past day, dropping a little over 1.3% to $3.2 trillion.

Crypto fear and greed index, the market sentiment metric, displayed a sense of panic among traders as it dropped 3 points to enter fear territory at 44.

Altcoins fared better than the flagship crypto, with modest gains spread across several of the top 99 assets.

Why is Bitcoin down today?

Bitcoin dipped to an intraday low of $93,902 during the early Asian trading hours after United States President Donald Trump teased new tariffs on imports of automobiles, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals.

Tariff-related developments have been accompanied by Bitcoin corrections, as evident over the past month.

This time, however, bulls managed to regain stability above the $95,000 support range by the time the Asian markets came to a close.

Additional pressure came from concerns over FTX creditors, who have started receiving repayments totaling over $1.2 billion.

Since these payouts are based on Bitcoin’s November 2022 price of around $20,000, analysts fear recipients may sell to capitalize on their gains, increasing market supply and weighing on Bitcoin’s price recovery.

Will the Bitcoin price go up?

The broader outlook for Bitcoin is still bullish, according to experts at CryptoQuant.

Despite the recent choppy price action, Ki Young Ju argues that Bitcoin remains in a bull cycle, even if corrections of up to 30% from all-time highs occur.

Based on historical patterns, he suggests BTC could still maintain its upward trajectory, with major support levels forming at $77,000 and $89,000—the latter being the aggregate cost basis of US spot Bitcoin ETF investors.

Other analysts share a similar long-term optimism but warn of potential near-term volatility. 

CryptoQuant contributor Timo Oinonen believes the post-halving cycle is far from over, pointing out that BTC has only gained 60% since last April’s halving event—historically lower than expected. 

He expects a “sell in May” effect, followed by a sideways summer and a bullish Q4,” echoing past cycles in 2013, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024.

In terms of short-term expectations, analyst CryptosRus highlighted Bitcoin’s weekly Stochastic RSI, which has entered the oversold territory—a signal often followed by a breakout. 

The Stoch RSI measures momentum, and dips below 20 typically indicate selling exhaustion. If history repeats, this could set the stage for Bitcoin’s next leg higher, according to the analyst.

Meanwhile, pseudonymous analyst Cold Blooded Shiller pointed out that Bitcoin’s recent sell-offs are losing momentum on lower timeframes, hinting at a potential reversal.

He suggested that if this pattern holds, BTC could be gearing up for a run to $101,000, with the added possibility of a short squeeze accelerating the move.

Similarly, well-followed trader and market commentator Moustache pointed to a falling wedge pattern on Bitcoin’s chart, a setup that typically signals a bullish breakout.

According to him, BTC is finally ready to break through resistance, potentially paving the way for a move above $100,000.

If the pattern plays out, Bitcoin could see renewed upside momentum, with altcoins expected to follow suit with even stronger gains.

When writing, Bitcoin was trading at $96,258 up 1% in the past 24 hours.

Altcoin market recovers 

For the altcoin market, it was a day of recovery, with the total market capitalisation of the sector surging over 6% in the past 24 hours to move past $1.38 trillion. 

The altcoin season index recovered by one point but still signaled Bitcoin season at 39.

The day’s top gainers saw double-digit rallies, driven by project-specific catalysts rather than broader market sentiment:

Sonic

Sonic (S) soared 19.3% over the past day amid a jump in daily trading volume. Over the past day, the altcoin’s trading volume had increased 11.8%  to a little over $270 million while its market cap was seated at $2.2 billion.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Today’s gains came after web3 infrastructure provider GetBlock revealed that it has become the first RPC node provider to integrate support for Sonic.

The gains were further compounded after reports emerged that the high-frequency layer-2 scaling solution had seen over $1 billion in trading volume in less than two months and currently has a total value locked of $500 million in the DeFi sector.

More trading and locked value mean higher demand, less supply, and more hype—pushing the S token’s price up.

Aptos

Over the past day, Aptos (APT) rallied 17.95%, exchanging hands at $6.41 per coin.

Its daily trading volume almost doubled over the previous day at $387.99 million, while its market cap hit $3.76 billion at the time of writing.

Source: CoinMaketCap

Today’s gains were triggered by a viral social media movement led by a pseudonymous trader, BuzzlamicJihad, who repeatedly posted “Aptos looking good here” across multiple crypto influencer threads.

This phrase quickly gained traction, sparking a wave of engagement and renewed interest in APT across the community.

Bittensor

Bittensor (TAO) recorded gains of 14.82% over the past day, trading at $416.77 per coin at the time of writing. Its daily trading volume also surged by 77% to nearly $235 million, while its market cap shot past $3.5 billion.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Most of the gains were triggered by the hype around the launch of TAO BOT, a platform designed to serve as an all-in-one hub for the Bittensor ecosystem, facilitating seamless interactions and investments within decentralized AI networks.

It enables users to bridge, trade, and stake assets in a user-friendly manner by abstracting the complexities of multi-chain operations.

Further, there was a sharp rise in demand for TAO in the derivatives market, with open interest increasing by 28% in the past day.

The long/short ratio remained above 1, which means traders were expecting its price to increase in the short term.