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Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week in volatile territory, with news of an oil supply cut delivering a choppy start.

Still caught at major historical resistance, BTC/USD delivered an unappetizing weekly close on news of oil production cuts.

A subsequent rebound may show bulls’ mettle, but the question for analysts is what happens next. Will oil prices dictate market moves or can Bitcoin break through $30,000?

Under the hood, the picture is as rosy as ever, with network fundamentals due to hit new all-time highs this week while dormant supply is also increasing.

Cointelegraph looks at Bitcoin markets as the world digests the latest move from The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus 10 other oil-exporting countries (Opec+).

Paris Blockchain Week celebrated its fourth edition in spring 2023 against a backdrop of riots, protests and general civil malaise. The builders in the Bitcoin (BTC), crypto, and Web3 spaces were unfazed by protesters chanting and dancing on the doorstep of the conference venue. 

The event took place against the backdrop of ongoing protests in Paris and worsening macroeconomic conditions in France. Many attendees expressed concern about the impact of these factors on the future of the blockchain and crypto industry, particularly in Europe.

Nevertheless, the overall mood at PBW 2023 was optimistic, with many attendees citing the recent surge in Bitcoin's price as a sign of growing mainstream acceptance of the technology. Plus, as Pascal Gauthier, CEO of Ledger, explained to Cointelegraph: “Bitcoin was designed for this.”

“Bitcoin was designed in reaction to Lehman Brothers in the 2008 crisis. It was designed because you can’t trust central authorities. And it’s designed because it’s clear that central authorities will fail. It’s not a question of if. It’s more a question of when.”

However, as protestors marched to the doorstep of the entrance to the “Les Salles du Carousel,” the crypt of the Louvre in which the event was held, there appeared to be a disconnect or rift between the Web3 space and reality.

A new daily all-time high (ATH) has been recorded for the number of Ordinals inscribed on the Bitcoin (BTC) network due to a recently launched “token standard” for the blockchain.

Bitcoin Ordinals reached 58,179 inscriptions on April 2, smashing the previous all-time high (ATH) of 31,692 on March 9 by 83.5% according to Dune Analytics data.

The surge is believed to be driven by the recent creation of "Bitcoin Request for Comment" (BRC-20) tokens on the Ordinals protocol by a pseudonymous on-chain analyst named Domo in early March.

While Ordinals are nonfungible token (NFT)-like “digital artifacts” which carry data in the form of text, JPEG images, PDFs, video and audio formats on the Bitcoin network, the BRC-20 token standard utilizes Ordinal inscriptions to deploy token contracts, mint tokens, and transfer tokens — similar to Ethereum’s ERC-20 token standard.

The arrival of Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens on Bitcoin were enabled by the Taproot soft fork, which took effect on Nov. 14, 2021.

The market witnessed a major banking crisis in March as Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed and Silvergate Bank entered liquidation as the result of dire financial distress. In Europe, the government brokered a forced takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS. Still, the United States equities markets and the European stock markets closed the month on a positive note.

The cryptocurrency market was also shaken by volatility, but Bitcoin (BTC) gained about 23% in March. Going forward, the picture looks encouraging for Bitcoin bulls in April and data from Coinglass suggests that the month has largely favored the buyers.

Although altcoins reacted positively to Bitcoin’s rise, the rally has not been equal across the board. This suggests that market participants have been selective in their purchases. As a result, traders might focus on the movers rather than the laggards.

Let’s study the charts of five cryptocurrencies that look positive in the near term. If they break above their resistance levels, they may offer short-term trading opportunities.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin is facing stiff resistance at the $29,000 level but the bulls have not allowed the price to lose ground. This suggests that the bulls are being patient as they anticipate a move higher.