Bitcoin (BTC) traded around the $78,000 level but again failed to break above $80,000, a key resistance level. Renewed tension between the United States and China is seen as having dampened risk appetite in the cryptocurrency market.

According to cryptocurrency outlet BeInCrypto on April 23 local time, bitcoin began trading at $78,193 and slipped to the mid-$77,000 range early in the session. The $80,000 to $80,600 range has acted as an overhead resistance level throughout April, repeatedly thwarting a breakout.

The pullback comes as U.S.-China tensions re-emerge. The White House raised the level of its AI response targeting China. Michael Kratsios, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said China-based actors are running an “industrial-scale distillation campaign” against U.S. AI systems and set out a response plan.

The White House said the actors are using tens of thousands of proxy accounts and jailbreak techniques to extract proprietary data from U.S. AI models. It also said it is reviewing steps including information sharing with U.S. AI companies and measures to hold them to account. The comments were interpreted as a signal that the competition for technological supremacy could intensify again.

Political schedules are also a variable. With President Donald Trump set to visit China in mid-May for talks with President Xi Jinping, market attention is focused on whether tensions will rise further or shift into a negotiating phase.

On-chain indicators also suggest the breakout faces pressure. The trader realized price is around $76,800, and is seen as acting as resistance during the recent rebound. In the derivatives market, Deribit’s $80,000 call options held the largest share, with a notional value of $1.78 billion.

That shows the market is still betting on the possibility of a bullish breakout. Call options are dominant over put options, keeping investor sentiment relatively optimistic. Still, a gap persists between options market expectations and spot price action.

Bitcoin is ultimately searching for direction under the double burden of technical resistance and geopolitical variables. An analysis said that if U.S.-China tensions ease, attempts to retake $80,000 could continue, but if tensions escalate it would be hard to rule out further correction alongside weakening sentiment across risk assets.