Bitcoin and US stock futures rose Tuesday night, while oil prices collapsed after President Donald Trump confirmed a two-week ceasefire between Iran and the United States via Truth Social.
BTC, the leading cryptocurrency by market value, rose to a high of $72,699, an increase of 5% in 24 hours, according to data from CoinDesk. The broader market followed suit and the CoinDesk 20 index jumped 5% to 2,034 points. Futures tied to the S&P 500 rose 1.9%, while those tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 2.2%. Dow Jones futures rose about 1.8%.
Meanwhile, the price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil plummeted more than 10% to $95, along with a similar drop in Brent oil.
The risky action followed a two-week suspension of a planned widespread bombing campaign against Iran.
“I agree to suspend the bombing and attack on Iran for a period of two weeks,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday night, just before the 8 p.m. ET deadline.
“This will be a double-sided CEASE FIRE! The reason for doing this is that we have already met and exceeded all military objectives, and we are a long way from a definitive agreement on long-term PEACE with Iran and PEACE in the Middle East.”
Iran confirmed the ceasefire and said that “if attacks against Iran stop, our powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations.” He added that oil tankers could safely transit the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks by coordinating with Iran’s armed forces and taking into account technical limitations.
“Iran also confirms a two-week ceasefire. But the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is somewhat confusing, with a warning of “technical limitations” and the need for “coordination” with the Iranian military. Still, the flow of oil and LNG is reopened,” Javier Bias, a Bloomberg opinion columnist who covers energy and raw materials, said in X.
For more than a month, uncertainty linked to the Iran war kept risk assets under pressure. While Bitcoin traded mostly choppy, its upside was persistently limited by the resulting rally in oil and inflation fears, while prompting traders to seek bearish positioning in the futures market.
The latest price rally has seen exchanges liquidate nearly $600 million in leveraged crypto futures positions. Of that amount, more than $400 million came from bearish short bets.
This implies strong bullish momentum and pressure against short sellers, reinforcing upward pressure on the price as traders rush to cover their losing positions.
