Bitcoin (BTC) surged Tuesday evening after President Donald Trump announced a temporary ceasefire with Iran, a move that sent the largest cryptocurrency higher and sparked a broader market repricing. Following Trump’s announcement, Bitcoin jumped nearly 5% and traded around $72,174 at the time of writing. Crypto market capitalization climbed from roughly $2.3 trillion to about $2.43 trillion as investors poured back into risk assets, while oil prices tumbled on the de‑escalation in the Middle East. Ceasefire Sparks Bitcoin Demand In his post, Trump said he had agreed to suspend strikes on Iran for two weeks, conditional on Tehran’s commitment to “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.” The President added that he made the decision after conversations with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, who asked him to hold off on military action. Related Reading: Bitcoin Rainbow Chart Says Price Is Ranging Above $60,000 For A Reason, Here’s Why Market experts also pointed to additional, proximate drivers of the rally beyond the geopolitical news. On social media platform X, DeFi Tracer identified large buys by major exchanges and market-makers immediately after the ceasefire was announced. According to the expert, Binance purchased 29,344 BTC, Coinbase bought 20,756 BTC, Kraken acquired 8,611 BTC, Wintermute bought 7,188 BTC, and Bybit picked up 5,191 BTC — transactions that together totaled about $4.5 billion in Bitcoin. Can BTC Clear $74,000? Despite the recovery, similar to those witnessed last month, a sustained breakout that could propel Bitcoin prices to 2025 levels is not assured. Investors should now focus on the $74,000 level, as it has acted as a significant resistance barrier over the past two months. Related Reading: Can An Altcoin Season Come Again? Why Bitcoin Price Can’t Fall Below $40,000 BTC’s short-term direction will depend on its ability to clear and maintain above that price. The current gains might not last long if the $74,000 barrier proves to be resilient and buying demand wanes. However, a clear break above it would strengthen the bullish outlook. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
Bitcoin quietly gained ground while gold crumbled. That contrast has become one of the more telling stories to emerge from weeks of escalating conflict in the Middle East, as the two assets — long compared as competing stores of value — have moved in sharply opposite directions since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran in late February. Related Reading: Bitcoin Gains Ground On Gold Even As Both Assets Slide Bitcoin Climbs As Gold Bleeds Since those first attacks, Bitcoin has risen more than 11% to around $70,650. Gold, meanwhile, has shed over 12% from its peak. Reports indicate the cryptocurrency has held up better than expected under the pressure of a widening war — a performance that has drawn attention in financial markets still trying to make sense of the conflict’s economic fallout. Gold’s losses accelerated this week. The metal dropped 3.4% on Friday alone, closing around $4,480 per ounce. For the full week of March 16-20, the decline reached 10% — the steepest weekly fall since 1983, according to data confirmed by TradingView. It surpassed even the sharp drop seen in late January, when gold shed hundreds of dollars in a matter of days and wiped out more than $2 trillion in market value within weeks of hitting $5,500 per ounce. That January plunge shocked investors. This one may have rattled them more. Fed Signals No Rate Cuts, Adding Pressure On Gold The Federal Reserve is adding to gold’s troubles. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that rising energy prices — driven in part by war-related disruptions in the Middle East — are expected to push inflation higher in the near term. Traders have responded by pulling back expectations for rate cuts in 2025. Rates are now widely expected to hold steady through the year. That shift matters for gold. When interest rates stay high, bonds and other yield-bearing instruments become more attractive by comparison. Gold pays no interest. It earns nothing while it sits. Reports note that this dynamic has weighed on demand from institutional investors who might otherwise hold the metal as a hedge. Related Reading: Crypto Adoption No Longer Optional, Survey Finds As 72% Of Finance Leaders Signal Commitment Trump Signals Possible Wind-Down Of Military Push The Iran conflict has also disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical shipping corridors. That disruption has stoked fears of a prolonged energy crunch, adding more uncertainty to global markets already on edge. US President Donald Trump said Friday he was considering pulling back from military operations in the region. At the same time, the US has deployed thousands of additional troops to the Middle East, and airstrikes have continued. The mixed signals have left markets guessing about what comes next. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView