Bitcoin climbed back above $77,000 after President Trump announced a pause on planned military action against Iran, citing ongoing negotiations and requests from Gulf leaders. The recovery came just hours after BTC had been dragged below that level by the same president's earlier aggressive rhetoric toward Tehran.
Trump first warned Iran that "the clock is ticking," a message that markets interpreted as a signal of imminent military escalation. Bitcoin promptly dropped to approximately $76,500. That decline triggered roughly $580 million in liquidations of long positions within just four hours-a pace of about $2.4 million per minute.
Then came the pivot. Trump announced that Gulf leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE had requested a halt to the planned strike. The president framed the pause as part of advancing negotiations toward a deal with Iran. Bitcoin responded by climbing back above $77,000.
The tensions between Washington and Tehran revolve around control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil supply passes, and stalled nuclear negotiations. Any escalation threatens oil supply chains, which ripples into inflation expectations, US Treasury yields, and risk appetite across every asset class.
US authorities have frozen approximately $344 million in Iranian-linked crypto assets in recent months, part of a broader enforcement effort targeting digital asset use for sanctions evasion.