Bitcoin Bulls on Edge as BTC Records Its Worst Q1 in Over Half a Decade

• Bitcoin and the overall crypto market brace for new U.S. tariffs impacting $1.5 trillion in imports on April 2, dubbed “Liberation Day” by Donald Trump.
• BTC had its worst first quarter since 2018, falling 30% from its January high, while gold hit multiple all-time highs.

Bitcoin investors are on edge as volatility rises with the close of both monthly and quarterly trading sessions. The BTC price is struggling to gain traction, with experts carefully monitoring major technical metrics.

What’s Next For Bitcoin Price?

BTC/USD fell to around $81,200 on March 30, its lowest level in two weeks, according to TradingView data. “In LTF, the first noticeable thing is this new wick to the downside,” analyst CrypNuevo noted on X.

He added, “The odds are on the side of it getting filled quite soon.” Since then, market sentiment is down, and traders have referenced a “bearish engulfing” candle on the weekly chart. HTL-NL stated, “Let’s see if it plays out.”

The technical outlook for Bitcoin is uncertain. Trading tool Barchart warned of a forthcoming “death cross” for both Bitcoin and American stocks. The Barchart analysis noted, “What if price action is red heading into those Death Crosses with the actual Crosses marking the bottom like we’ve seen many times before?”

Meanwhile, market surveillance resource Coinglass showed closely grouped bid and ask levels of liquidity, which signaled market pressure. CrypNuevo pointed out the 50-day and 50-week exponential moving averages and commented, “Seeing some compression between the 1W50EMA and 1D50EMA, which always leads to an aggressive move.”

Source: TradingView

Trade Tensions & Economic Data Add To Uncertainty

Source: The Kobeissi Letter | X

Markets are preparing themselves for more shock as new tariffs on U.S. trade came into effect today, April 2, amidst important employment numbers releases. A warning was expressed by The Kobeissi Letter that the new tariffs would potentially impact $1.5 trillion in imports. “President Trump has been discussing this Wednesday, April 2nd, for weeks. This is a day that he has named ‘Liberation Day’ where widespread new tariffs are coming,” it highlighted.

Adding to the confusion, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak on April 4 at the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) Annual Conference. Traders will be glued to his take on inflation and interest rates, with CME Group’s FedWatch Tool indicating the potential for a rate reduction next June.

Bitcoin Price’s Lackluster Q1 Performance

Source: Coinglass

BTC/USD fell 12.7% in Q1, its worst first quarter since 2018. Gold, the classic safe-haven asset, performed better than Bitcoin, making several all-time highs, while BTC has fallen 30% from its January high, as short-term investors hit extreme panic, as mentioned in our last news piece. 

Glassnode on-chain analysis suggests that Bitcoin’s drawdowns are still in the normal range of historical observations. Analyst Yonsei Dent at CryptoQuant noted, “Much like in previous cycles, this cross was followed by a price decline after Bitcoin hit a local peak.”

Meanwhile, the Coinbase Premium, which charts the disparity of BTC prices at Coinbase and Binance, remains flat. Though CryptoQuant contributor Crypto Sunmoon pointed out, “Panic selling is decreasing.”