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Bitcoin Price Analysis: BTC Settles Around $96,000 After Bybit Shock

Bitcoin (BTC) has steadied itself between $96,000 and $96,500 following a substantial decline after Bybit, one of the most prominent cryptocurrency exchanges, was hacked for a staggering $1.4 billion. The flagship cryptocurrency has registered a marginal increase over the past 24 hours and is trading at $96,390. BTC has been range-bound for weeks. However, spot Bitcoin ETFs have continued to attract inflows. ETFs have attracted inflows of $4.3 billion in Q1 2025, compared to $4.8 billion in Q1 2024. Is BTC’s Dip A Chance For Retail Investors? Bitcoin (BTC) has registered a sharp correction since hitting its all-time high on January 20. However, the flagship cryptocurrency could not sustain momentum, ultimately dropping below $100,000 as it tested key support levels. BTC is currently trading 12% lower than its all-time high. BTC’s drop has retail traders wondering if they should buy the dip or wait for a deeper correction. BTC has entered a consolidation phase after its impressive post-election rally. Analysts believe the current price action indicates a pause before the next leg of the bull rally. Edu Patel, Founder and CEO of Mudrex, stated, “While macroeconomic data and rising tariffs have caused short-term volatility, promising new developments in regulation and adoption, such as the SEC’s crypto task force and new ETFs awaiting approval, signal there could be a lot of steam left in this bull run.” According to Patel, retail investors must take advantage of this current consolidation phase and buy the dip. “With Bitcoin holding strong at key support levels, market pullbacks offer opportunities for dollar-cost averaging.” However, not everyone is convinced this is the right time to enter the market. According to Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin, investors must conduct their research and assess their risk tolerance before making any moves in the market. “The current market conditions are marked by volatility and driven by macroeconomic factors and regulatory uncertainties. While some may view this dip as a buying opportunity, investors must conduct thorough research and assess their risk tolerance before making any decisions.” Amit Malik, President of JAPA (Japan, Asia Pacific, and Australia) at Wadzpay, warned retail investors against making impulsive decisions. “Historically, buying the dip has proven profitable for fundamentally strong cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which tend to rebound after corrections. However, prices could fall further due to regulatory changes or macroeconomic events.” Can A Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Pay Off US Debt By 2049? VanEck has released a tool that assesses the potential impact of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve under specific conditions. The tool allows the government to set the number of Bitcoins purchased annually, the average price at which they are being bought, and the average compound growth rate of the BTC price and US debt. The tool is based on VanEck research outlining how soon the debt could be offset by the reserve at the specified parameters. The research assumes the Bitcoin Act will be adopted this year. The research assumes the US Treasury will collect a million Bitcoins in five years and hold them for 20 years, with the assets only being spent to cover the national debt. VanEck’s research concludes the US will amass 1 million BTC by 2049, with their total value amounting to $21 trillion, which would offset around 18% of the national debt, which is expected to reach $116 trillion by 2029. Bitcoin (BTC) Price Analysis Bitcoin (BTC) could be approaching a decisive moment, with a potential breakdown of key support levels after weakening buying pressure. According to one analysis, BTC’s support zone at $93,000 has been tested multiple times since BTC began trading in its consolidation range. The analysis states that multiple retests could have weakened the support zone, and buyers could be overwhelmed. The latest retest of BTC’s support level occurred on February 18, when BTC dropped to an intraday low of $93,430 before recovering. With buying pressure fading, the likelihood of a drop below this level has increased. A break below this level could lead to a deeper correction and lead BTC to drop below $80,000. BTC’s next significant level of support sits at $72,000. However, BTC has not shifted into a fully bearish mode, with current price action suggesting indecision. This means it could resolve either way. If BTC dips below $93,000 and then $90,000, it could lead to a deeper correction. On the other hand, if buyers gain momentum, BTC could push above $100,000. However, BTC is struggling to build momentum, with sellers controlling the ongoing session. BTC needs significant buying and selling pressure to break out of range. However, there is no catalyst to dictate price action, with the fallout from the Bybit hack largely contained. BTC started the week in the red after dropping 1.51% on Sunday. Sellers retained control on Monday, with the price falling below $96,000 to settle at $95,767. Selling pressure intensified on Tuesday as BTC plunged to an intraday low of $93,430. However, it recovered from this level to reclaim $95,000 and settle at $95,643, ultimately registering a marginal drop. Sentiment changed on Wednesday as buyers returned to the market, and BTC rose nearly 1% to reclaim $96,000 and settle at $96,386. Bullish sentiment intensified on Thursday as BTC registered an increase of almost 2% and settled at $98,251, with analysts expecting a move towards $100,000. Source: TradingView That expectation changed on Friday following the Bybit hack that sent shockwaves in the market, with prices tanking. As a result, BTC faced significant volatility and fell to an intraday low of $94,829 before settling at $96,184, a drop of just over 2%. Saturday saw a marginal recovery as BTC rose to $96,478. However, the price fell back during the current session, down 0.53%, and trading at $95,659. If buyers cannot retake control, the MACD, currently bullish, could flip to bearish. Meanwhile, the RSI is just below the neutral zone, indicating a bearish bias. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. The Daily Hodl

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North Korean Lazarus Group Likely Behind $1.46 Billion Bybit Exchange Hack

With not all information public, Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analysis firm, has concluded that North Korea’s Lazarus group was responsible for the $1.46 billion hack on the Bybit exchange. On platform X, Arkham offered a bounty of 50,000 ARKM tokens, worth around $30,000, for anyone who could identify the attackers responsible for Friday’s hack. Not long after, Arkham announced that freelancer ZachXBT had provided “definite proof” that the North Korean hacking group was behind the hack. According to current information, Lazarus, North Korea’s elite state-sponsored hacking group, pulled off the largest hack in history on a centralized crypto exchange. The hack resulted in the withdrawal of Ethereum tokens amounting to around $1.5 billion. Ethereum security researchers are scrambling to investigate the incident to understand how the attack happened and whether the hack may spread to other exchanges. Within days, crypto enthusiast ZachXBT identified the Lazarus group as the likely culprit. Lazarus has been responsible for many of the top attacks on digital assets. Blockchain firm Nansen revealed that the attackers first withdrew the funds into a single wallet and then distributed them to multiple wallets. “Initially, the stolen funds were transferred to a primary wallet, which then distributed them across more than 40 wallets”, Nansen said. “The attackers converted all stETH, cmETH, and mETH to ETH before systematically transferring ETH in $27 million increments to over 10 additional wallets”. Ben Zhou, Bybit CEO, urged customers to remain calm and assured them that 80% of funds were recovered by using bridge loans to replace the stolen money. Despite the current bank run on Bybit, Zhou assured users that withdrawals would not be blocked and that customers would have access to their funds. Leveraging bridge loans allows Zhou to honour withdrawal requests. At this stage, the return of stolen tokens is highly unlikely. ZachXBT has yet to release all data pointing to the Lazarus group. He says his analysis involved tracking online connections between wallet addresses until, with the assistance of a colleague, he was able to narrow down the suspects to the North Korean hacking group. ZachXBT found a connection between the wallets used in the Bybit hack and the wallets used in the $85 million hack of Singapore-based exchange Phemex. At this stage, at least, the attack appears to be caused by Blind Signing, in which the smart contact is approved without complete knowledge of its contents. “This attack vector is quickly becoming the favorite form of cyber attack used by advanced threat actors, including North Korea”, said Blockaid’s CEO Ido Ben Natan. “It’s the same type of attack that was used in the Radiant Capital breach and the WazirX incident.” “The problem is that even with the best key management solutions, today most of the signing process is delegated to software interfaces that interact with dApps.” “This creates a critical vulnerability- it opens the door for malicious manipulation of the signing process, which is exactly what happened in this attack,” he said. The stolen funds are unlikely to be returned because North Korea does not have an extradition agreement with the United States. The North Korean hacking group was able to attain more money in this single hack than in all of its hacks last year. This hack contrasts with other previous large-scale attacks, such as the 2016 Bitfinex hack, in that the people behind this attack will likely get away with it and will most likely keep the stolen money. This shows that the American justice system is limited to countries with extradition agreements. Although America focuses on retrieving lost funds through tax, there’s not much they can do about large-scale hacks. Tom Robinson, Elliptic’s chief scientist, described the attack as the “largest crypto theft of all time.” “The next largest crypto theft would be the $611 million stolen from Poly Network in 2021. In fact it may even be the largest single theft of all time”. Bybit appears to be processing withdrawals just fine after their hack,” wrote Coinbase executive Conor Grogan. They have $20B+ in assets on the platform, and their cold wallets are untouched. “Given the isolated nature of the signing hack and how well capitalized Bybit is, I don’t expect there to be contagion.” “A minute into the FTX bankrun it was clear they had no funds to withdraw. I know everyone has PTSD but Bybit is not an FTX situation, if it was I would be screaming it out. They will be fine”. The Lazarus group’s history can be traced back to 2017 when they hacked South Korean exchanges and stole over $200 million in Bitcoin. Crypto bank robberies seem to be here to stay and will need to be a major focus within the crypto industry. The Daily Hodl