Bitcoin reached a 12-week high before pulling back slightly on Monday. Traders reacted to mixed signals about the progress of US-Iran talks to end the conflict in the Middle East.
The original cryptocurrency touched $79,488 early Monday in Europe, its highest price since January 31. However, it soon gave up those gains, trading around $77,000. An Axios report that Iran had proposed a new deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz initially boosted investor confidence, but rising oil prices then dampened the appetite for riskier assets.
Since the war between the US and Iran started in late February, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial trade waterway, has almost completely stopped at times. News of on-again, off-again negotiations to end the conflict has caused big swings in oil prices and risk assets.
Bitcoin had been steadily climbing back towards the $80,000 level in recent trading sessions. This was due to traders closing out short positions and improved demand from large investors. The token is up 13% so far in April, putting it on track for its first double-digit monthly gain since May 2025.
“The risks are real. US-Iran peace deal odds have collapsed, a major economic factor that could cause many risk assets to lose value,” said Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets. She added, “$80,000 is where many recent buyers are about to break even, which is usually when they start selling to get out of their positions.”
Jeff Ko, chief analyst at CoinEx, mentioned that technical resistance above $79,000 made it a “natural spot for profit-taking.” He also noted that investors are now getting ready for interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank later this week.
US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen a noticeable increase in demand this month. Net inflows in April have reached about $2.5 billion, putting them on pace to double March’s total. Large institutional buyers returned to these funds in March after four straight months of money flowing out. Meanwhile, Strategy Inc. bought $255 million worth of Bitcoin in the past seven days. This slows down its pace of buying the digital currency after spending $3.5 billion over the previous two weeks.
Michael Saylor’s digital asset treasury company acquired 3,273 Bitcoin in the period ending April 27, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday. Saylor, the co-founder and executive chairman of the former MicroStrategy, paid for these latest purchases by selling common stock.
