Iran told the International Maritime Organization this week that non-hostile ships could pass through the Strait of Hormuz. That single statement was enough to send Bitcoin back above $70,000 — a level it had been struggling to hold as tensions between Washington and Tehran kept traders on edge.

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A Volatile 48 Hours For Bitcoin

The ride up was not smooth. For roughly two days, Bitcoin whipsawed as headlines shifted by the hour. US President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iranian power plants. Then he didn’t.

Reports surfaced of possible peace talks. Tehran denied them. Each headline moved the price. By the time Washington’s formal 15-point proposal leaked through regional media, Bitcoin had climbed to $71,100 — up just 0.3% in 24 hours, but the direction mattered more than the number.

Announces a Truce to Stop the War with Iran
Trump surprises the world with a tweet that flips the table!

President Donald Trump has suddenly announced a 5-day truce in exchange for negotiations toward a comprehensive solution with Iran. He stated that there were “good and… pic.twitter.com/nrln9EysTo

— khaled mahmoued (@khaledmahmoued1) March 23, 2026

The broader market felt it too. WTI crude dropped 5.31% to $87.44 a barrel. Brent crude fell 6.06% to just under $100. Gold rose 2.50% to $4,586.

Risk assets and safe havens moved in opposite directions, and Bitcoin sat somewhere in between — part speculative bet, part hedge, depending on who was buying.

The Proposal That Moved Prices

Washington delivered its offer through Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, who served as the go-between. The plan covers 15 points.

According to reports, it asks Iran to shut down its key nuclear facilities — Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow — halt further uranium enrichment, and eventually hand existing stockpiles over to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

In return, all active sanctions would be lifted with a written guarantee against reimposition. The US has also offered to help Iran develop civilian nuclear power plants for electricity generation.

For crypto traders, the details mattered less than the signal. A potential end to the conflict meant lower oil prices, easing inflation pressure, and more appetite for risk. Bitcoin responded accordingly.

Tehran’s Denial Keeps The Market Guessing

Iran’s government has refused to acknowledge any negotiations are taking place. Missile strikes linked to Tehran and its allied forces have continued even as the proposal circulates.

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That contradiction — a goodwill gesture at the Strait of Hormuz alongside ongoing military action — has left markets in a holding pattern.

Bitcoin holding above $70,000 reflects cautious optimism, not conviction. One firm rejection from Tehran could unwind the move fast. Traders are watching every statement out of Iran closely, knowing the next headline could push prices in either direction.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Jackson Palmer, the co-creator of meme-based cryptocurrency Dogecoin DOGE/USD, believes that the crypto industry is “a hammer in search of a nail” and does not provide anything meaningful to society.

What Happened: In a recent interview with Australian publication The Age, Palmer described crypto as “a parasitic thing” that has “got its claws in every single scam that is out there.”

“Crypto acts as an enabler of many groups of scams by providing an unregulated, harder to control system for scammers to perpetuate their scams,” he said.

“Wherever there’s smoke there’s probably crypto.”

In his view, grifters use various narratives attached to crypto to sell people on the idea of it, by exploiting the average person’s fears. Every few years there’s a new narrative, said Palmer, referring to Bitcoin being touted as a replacement for banks and a store of value, initial coin offerings (ICOs), and even DeFi, which he describes as a “total sham.”

“Now we have NFTs which are simply the latest in a long string of changing narratives, so the industry can get a bunch of new suckers in,” said Palmer, who was shocked by the million-dollar value of ape JPEGs.

According to him, the problem has been amplified by celebrities and prominent industry leaders who further legitimize the industry.

“When Matt Damon gets up at the Superbowl and tells you that apes will be the future, some people then think ‘oh well, maybe I was wrong,’” he said.

See Also: Super Bowl LVI Becomes Crypto Bowl With Commercials, Ad Campaigns For Big Game

Palmer also talked about Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk’s “big impact” on Dogecoin.

“Elon has had a big impact, especially on the Dogecoin market and making people believe that it is something, which I obviously don’t agree with.”

In another interview with Crikey earlier this week, Palmer described Musk as a grifter and said that the Tesla CEO wasn’t as familiar with coding languages as he made himself out to be.

Musk responded to Palmer’s comments on Twitter by calling him a “tool” and stating that all of his claims were entirely false.

Bitcoin (BTC) inched up 5% to reclaim the $20,000 territory as the 4th of July hype provided surprise gains. Tuesday saw a comeback on the cryptocurrency market, with the majority of tokens trading in the green.

Bitcoin’s Tuesday rally was the first for the coin in five days, with the 4th of July daily candle about to close, and providing some dose of optimism in the dreary bear market.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies remained virtually unchanged on Monday, with crypto assets trading at downcast prices after a huge selloff in recent months.

The worldwide cryptocurrency market capitalization was trading at $909 billion, an increase of more than 6 percent in the last 24 hours. However, the total trading volume of cryptocurrencies increased by nearly 37 percent to $55 billion.

Suggested Reading | Bitcoin Slides Under $20K – Another Collapse In The Offing?

Bitcoin Retakes $20,000 Territory

TradingView data indicated that the BTC/USD pair rose to $20,085 on Tuesday, its strongest gain since June 30. The pair spent the majority of the weekend near $19,000 as the bulls attempted to push BTC’s price to $20K.

After a turbulent second quarter, Bitcoin’s price has entered the third quarter with sluggish movement as it continues to consolidate around the $20,000 mark.

Since the start of 2022, increased geopolitical concerns and a change in sentiment (induced by rate increases, the conflict in Ukraine, and a dismal economic prospects) have inflicted a blow to crypto assets, causing Bitcoin to return to levels last seen in December 2020.

BTC continues to trade at less than a third of its all-time high of $69,000, attained in November last year, but has maintained its position above $18,000, the bottom it touched during mid-June liquidations.

BTC total market cap at $376 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com

BTC Needed To Break Past $19K

Despite the negative trends, Bitcoin managed to recover and surpass the $19,000 threshold.

According to popular analyst Matthew Hyland, Bitcoin has successfully “created Bullish divergence on the daily time frame for the first time since breaking below $20,000.”

On-chain analytics resource Whalemap verified that whales purchasing tokens at the price of $19,200 had given a sigh of comfort and market support.

Suggested Reading | Ethereum (ETH) Hammered Down To $950 As Crypto Selloff Deepens

According to Santiment statistics, a large number of Bitcoin long positions were opened on cryptocurrency exchanges on July 4th, boosting trader optimism.

US traders, one of the largest markets, are now placing substantial bets on Bitcoin’s continued ascent.

Meanwhile, some crypto investors who are still long-term Bitcoin bulls expect that the leading cryptocurrency will require a one- or two-year buildup cycle until the next BTC halving before the leading crypto can truly rebound and register new highs.

Featured image from 123RF, chart from TradingView.com