bitcoin fell late in the morning on the US East Coast after comments from US President Donald Trump signaled the cessation of planned diplomatic travel related to talks with Iran.
The largest cryptocurrency fell about $100 to $77,351 just before noon ET, reversing an earlier modest gain. The move came minutes after a Fox reporter posted Trump’s comments on X, where he said he had canceled a trip by envoys Steve Witkoff and Trump’s stepson Jared Kushner.
“Just now I told my people that they were getting ready to leave, and I said, ‘No, you’re not going to take an 18-hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. You can call us whenever you want, but you’re not going to take any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing,'” Trump said, according to the publication.
Witkoff and Kushner were expected to travel to Pakistan for a new round of talks involving Iran. The change came just hours after Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, left Pakistan, a detail that had fueled disappointment about expectations for short-term talks.
However, BTC’s decline was limited, suggesting that markets viewed the development as a sign of short-term risk rather than a change in the broader outlook.
Market participants will likely be watching follow-up statements from U.S. officials and any response from Iran. Trump is expected to speak at a cryptocurrency conference in Palm Beach around noon ET.
