Bitcoin Risks Dropping Below $70k as Iran Ceasefire Frays Within 48 Hours of Being Signed

TL;DR

• BTC is down 1% and is now trading below $71k.

• The slight comes amid the instability caused by the US-Iran ceasefire deal.

Bitcoin Holds Above $70K Amid U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Instability and Market Uncertainty

Bitcoin is trading at $70,900 on Thursday, marking a slight 1% decline over the past 24 hours but still reflecting a strong 6.1% gain for the week. The cryptocurrency’s resilience came as the two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, which had fueled Tuesday's broad market rally, started to show signs of unraveling less than 48 hours after its announcement.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stated that three clauses of the ceasefire agreement had been violated, though he did not specify which ones. 

Meanwhile, Israeli military activity continued in Lebanon, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane central to the deal, remained largely blocked, with only minimal tanker traffic.

Meanwhile, Ether, the second-leading cryptocurrency by market cap, dropped by 3.2% to $2,180 after leading the initial rally with a 5.2% weekly gain. Solana’s SOL fell 3% to $82.30, XRP lost 3.5% to $1.33, and Dogecoin slid 3.4% to $0.091. Binance Coin (BNB) remained relatively flat at $600, down 2.2%.

The market uncertainty remains in place as the Federal Reserve continues to signal upside risks to inflation amid weakening labor conditions, reinforcing expectations that interest rates will remain higher for longer. 

In Japan, wage growth has reached multi-decade highs, further fueling speculation that additional rate hikes may be on the horizon.

Currently, the $65,000 to $73,000 price range, which has contained Bitcoin's movements since late February, remains intact, though Bitcoin is now testing the upper half of this range.