QCP Capital: A more positive bullish outlook may not appear until the third quarter

PANews reported on March 10 that Singaporean cryptocurrency investment firm QCP Capital stated today that last Friday's Non-Farm Payroll (NFP) data provided some respite for the stock and cryptocurrency markets, further strengthening market expectations for a rate cut in May. Bitcoin spent most of Saturday hovering around $86,000, seemingly laying the groundwork for a steady recovery this week. However, this momentum was interrupted during Sunday's low liquidity period by the Bybit hacking incident. The hackers cashed out at least $300 million from a record-breaking theft of $1.5 billion in cryptocurrencies, causing BTC and ETH to retest key support levels.

As the hackers have shown an intention to cash out rather than risk further losses (the stolen assets have already depreciated by 25%), holders may sell off early to avoid supply pressure from further hacker sales, which could exacerbate today's price drop. In the past 24 hours, demand for bearish options has increased due to concerns about additional selling pressure.

Although $80k remains a key support level for BTC in recent times, upside potential seems limited as narratives about strategic bitcoin reserves have been fully priced into the market. Recent option flows suggest more bullish prospects might not emerge until Q3. Until new narratives are found within crypto markets short-term correlation between BTC and stocks is likely to increase further. Currently both these risky assets trade near recent lows with tariff risks still present; volatility may rise ahead of key US macroeconomic data releases - Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday and Producer Price Index (PPI) on Thursday.