Bitcoin Nears $80,000 But Hedge Fund Founder Says It's Still In 'No-Trade Zone'

Bitcoin prices briefly topped $79,000 per token on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said the US will extend its ceasefire with Iran. The price move also coincides with Michael Saylor's Strategy buying another 34,164 bitcoins to hold a total of 815,061 tokens, retaining its position as the largest corporate holder of the digital asset.

'Strategy has acquired 34,164 BTC for ~$2.54 billion at ~$74,395 per bitcoin and has achieved BTC Yield of 9.5% YTD 2026,' Saylor posted on X on April 20. 'As of 4/19/2026, we hodl 815,061 $BTC acquired for ~$61.56 billion at ~$75,527 per bitcoin.'

The purchase was funded mainly by Strategy raising over $2.1 billion via sales of its high-yield preferred shares and an additional $366 million through the issue of common shares. The preferred securities, offering yields of 11.5%, allow the firm to ramp up its Bitcoin purchases while limiting dilution from equity issuance.

'Bitcoin is increasingly behaving as a hybrid asset, drawing inflows during periods of easing tensions and as a hedge during geopolitical uncertainty. Technically, $80,000 is the next significant resistance level, and the daily MACD suggests moderate upside momentum,' Trade Nation senior analyst David Morrison told a media outlet.

Cryptocurrency proponents like 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' author Robert Kiyosaki continue to urge investors to invest in Bitcoin as well as precious metals in order to survive an impending market crash. He warned that millions of people worldwide are facing the risk of homelessness.

Even German brokerage Berenberg devised a strategy of allocating 45% of your portfolio to gold, silver, and Bitcoin while entirely ditching bond instruments. Berenberg's strategy is based on multiple macroeconomic factors, including geopolitical clashes, fiscal dominance, and forecasts of prolonged elevated rates, inflation, and commodity prices.

Hedge Fund Founder Warns of AI Agentic Deflation Bomb

Despite growing optimism around Bitcoin, the co-founder of BitMEX crypto exchange and Maelstrom hedge fund, Arthur Hayes, believes that the BTC rally doesn't matter until the US Federal Reserve restarts the printer.

'Bitcoin might bounce a bit after the situation reverts to the pre-war status quo,' he wrote on X last week, referring to the Iran ceasefire. 'However, the AI agentic deflation bomb still ticks below the surface. Until the Fed provides the liquidity needed to plug the black hole in banks' balance sheets caused by consumer credit defaults, Bitcoin will not meaningfully rise,' he added.

He believes AI is destroying knowledge-worker income faster than the labour market can absorb, which feeds into consumer credit defaults, ultimately compelling the Fed to bail out bank balance sheets, eventually driving BTC prices higher when liquidity returns.

According to a recent Crypto Nutshell summary of Hayes' interview, Bitcoin is likely to reach up to $200,000 per token by the summer of this year, between $250,000 and $500,000 by the end of 2026, and $1 million by 2028.

In all, until the Fed restarts quantitative easing, Hayes expects Bitcoin to chop in what he has branded the 'no-trade zone.'

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