Bitcoin briefly fell, but it soared to more than $82,000 on Sunday after President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s counter-offer to a peace deal that could prolong tensions in the Middle East.
“I don’t like it — it’s completely unacceptable,” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday after reading Iran’s proposal to end the war, which had previously demanded that the U.S. pay war reparations and unfreeze blocked Iranian financial assets.
Bitcoin (BTC) fell from $81,430 to $80,520 within 45 minutes of President Trump’s post, before surging nearly 2.3% to $82,347 within the next three hours, according to data from CoinGecko. Bitcoin’s rally has wiped out about $64 million worth of short positions in the past four hours, according to data from Coinglass.
Bitcoin price changes in the last 24 hours. sauce: CoinGecko
The war between the US and Iran and the dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for one-fifth of oil trade, has caused major turmoil in financial markets, particularly oil markets, over the past 10 weeks, with crude oil rising another 4.6% to $98.7 per barrel following President Trump’s latest comments.
The S&P 500 futures index has gained 0.13% since markets opened about two hours after Trump’s post.
Hopes for an imminent end to the war were dashed on Wednesday after President Trump refused to accept Iran’s counter-offer. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said the war will not end until Iran’s uranium remains are removed.
sauce: quick response 47
Bitcoin could receive further regulatory momentum in the US this week
Bitcoin’s strength at the $80,000 level could be supported by two favorable decisions in the US Senate this week, 10x Research CEO Markus Thielen told Cointelegraph.
“Two triggers stand out this week,” Thielen said, referring to Monday’s Senate vote to confirm Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chairman and Thursday’s increase in the Clarity Act by the Senate Banking Committee.
Related: Bitcoin Price Could Fall Toward $70,000 as Fed Expects Inflation to Rise
Mr. Thielen said that although Mr. Warsh is “widely seen as more hawkish on inflation than current Fed Chairman Jerome Powell,” his confirmation would remove “an overhang of uncertainty.”
Thielen described the CLARITY Act as “the most important crypto bill in years,” adding that it could be “a turning point in regulatory certainty across digital assets.”
“Both events tilt in a bullish direction for Bitcoin. Regulatory clarity reduces institutional friction, and a smooth transition in Fed leadership avoids the policy uncertainty that typically weighs on risk assets.”
Bitcoin rises 29.7% since US-Iran war began
Despite the US-Iran conflict, Bitcoin is currently up 29.7% since the US-Iran conflict began on February 28, when a US airstrike killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Bitcoin has outperformed the S&P 500 and gold since the US-Iran war began, regaining ground lost from October, when Bitcoin hit a high of $126,080.
