Bitcoin Slides Below $80K as PPI Shocks Markets, Warsh Confirmed Fed Chair, Conviction Buyers Hit 4M BTC

Bitcoin News

A viral X thread drew more than six million views after a pseudonymous user claimed Anthropic's Claude model helped recover access to a long-dormant Bitcoin wallet holding roughly 5 BTC, valued near $400,000 at current prices. The user said the wallet, beginning with the prefix 14VJyS, had been inaccessible since 2015 after a password change. On-chain records confirm the address moved funds for the first time in nearly a decade. Recovery specialists pushed back on the framing, noting the screenshots showed AI-assisted file analysis and mnemonic matching rather than any cryptographic break of Bitcoin's underlying encryption. The episode reignited debate over how large language models can accelerate forensic password-recovery workflows.

Traders are positioning for a sharp move as the CLARITY Act vote approaches in Washington, with short-term holder sell pressure cooling to multi-month lows. On-chain data shows loss pressure from recent buyers has held at zero percent for five consecutive sessions, while the share of supply controlled by short-term traders fell to 22.2%, the lowest reading in 90 days. More than $3 billion in leveraged long positions cluster between $78,000 and $79,000, suggesting BTC could briefly probe that band before attempting a reclaim of the 200-day exponential moving average. A clean breakout could open a fast path toward $90,000.

A structural accumulation trend is reshaping Bitcoin's market floor, with so-called conviction buyers now holding close to 4 million BTC, a roughly 300% jump since late 2025. The cohort, valued above $320 billion at current prices, captures coins that have migrated into low-activity entities ranging from corporate treasuries to long-horizon institutional whales. Strategy alone now sits on 818,869 BTC acquired for nearly $62 billion, sitting on $4.6 billion in unrealized gains. Analysts note that nearly 70% of recent buyer supply is now in profit, a psychological buffer historically associated with hardened price floors and reduced sell-side liquidity ahead of expansion phases.

The US Senate confirmed former Fed governor Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair in a 54-45 vote, the most divisive confirmation in the modern central bank's history. Warsh, who replaces Jerome Powell at chair while Powell retains his board seat through 2028, has publicly described Bitcoin as "an important asset" and a useful signal for monetary policy credibility. He holds an equity stake in Bitcoin payments startup Flashnet and ties to crypto index manager Bitwise. His first FOMC meeting is set for June 16-17, arriving against a backdrop of inflation running above the 2% target and an active geopolitical shock from the war in Iran clouding the rate-cut path.

A fresh on-chain report flagged that Bitcoin's recent rebound failed to reclaim its 200-day moving average near $82,430, a rejection that mirrors the March 2022 setup that preceded a deep bear market leg. Unrealized profit margins among traders reached 17.7% on May 5, the highest reading since June 2025, raising distribution risk. Last week saw the largest profit-taking session since December, with 14,600 BTC worth about $1.16 billion realized. The Coinbase Premium has flipped negative since late April, signaling weaker US spot demand as the asset trades roughly 3.5% below its 200-day moving average benchmark.

April's US Producer Price Index print delivered another upside surprise, accelerating to its highest 12-month reading since December 2022 and triggering Bitcoin's slide below $80,000 into Wall Street's open. Headline final demand jumped at the fastest monthly pace since March 2022, with oil-driven pass-through from the US-Iran conflict feeding pipeline pressures. Rate-cut probabilities for the June FOMC meeting collapsed to just 1.4%, with traders now pricing a non-trivial chance of an outright hike later this year. The hawkish repricing weighed across risk assets, and the CME futures gap continues to act as overhead resistance until reclaimed.

BTC trades around $79,670, down 1.3% over 24 hours with market cap near $1.59 trillion. Immediate support sits at $79,236, with stronger structural floors at $77,515 and $73,990. Resistance is layered at $79,517, $81,317, and $82,861, framing a tight battle zone around the spot price. The RSI at 54.55 is neutral with room to extend either direction, though a bearish MACD signal and sideways trend favor consolidation. A reclaim of $81,317 with volume confirmation would invalidate the short-term bearish thesis and open the path back to the 200-day moving average; a daily close beneath $77,515 would expose the $73,990 zone.