Bitcoin bulls prep $97K resistance showdown as gold dips 8% from highs

Bitcoin ( BTC ) gained 3% on May 1 as a new month saw shorts struggle to keep price pinned. BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView Bitcoin pressures shorts after 3% daily gains Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $96,955 on Bitstamp, its highest since Feb. 22. Increasingly close to six figures, Bitcoin rose with US stocks at the Wall Street open as Microsoft gained 10% to become the world’s highest-valued public company. Reacting, popular trader Daan Crypto Trades suggested that stocks may be on the cusp of a return to sustained bullish trajectory. “Stocks trade at a key area here,” he wrote in ongoing X analysis . “I think the general rule is that if stocks do trade back above the .618 Fibonacci retracement after a big drop, the bottom is considered to be in.” S&P 500 1-day chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X An accompanying chart showed the S&P 500 approaching monthly highs, delivering a V-shaped recovery. “Even though $BTC has held up better recently, large moves by equities should still influence BTC & Crypto. So watch this zone,” Daan Crypto Trades added. Fellow trader Skew watched exchange order book liquidity for signs of short-term moves to come. $BTC Who's going to be right this time? Longs or Shorts pic.twitter.com/4xSu86WzSQ — Skew Δ (@52kskew) May 1, 2025 The latest data from monitoring resource CoinGlass showed ask liquidity thickening around $97,000 at the time of writing. BTC liquidation heatmap (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass Analyst on macro picture: “Short term: bad for gold” The optimistic May open meanwhile came despite the macroeconomic outlook remaining uncertain as recession fears returned on the back of poor US GDP data. Related: Bitcoin eyes gains as macro data makes US recession 2025 ‘base case’ With the Federal Reserve under pressure to cut interest rates , various crypto market commentators saw the chance for a stronger comeback in the coming months. “Bad macroeconomic data came along, through which the pressure on the FED is increasing to start the money printer again,” Crypto trader, analyst and entrepreneur Michaël van de Poppe told X followers in part of a post on the day. “Ultimately, good for risk-on assets. Short-term, bad for Gold.” XAU/USD 1-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView XAU/USD was down more than 8% versus its all-time highs seen in April, with oil also suffering. This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.