Bitcoin Price Drops to $76,000 as Iran Closes Hormuz Strait Again

A major short squeeze took place in a single session, with bitcoin reaching $78,000 on Friday before pulling back to $76,091 by Saturday evening. This occurred after Iran announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to maritime traffic, less than 24 hours after its foreign minister declared it fully open. The closure was reportedly in response to a US blockade of Iranian shipping. Oil tankers that had begun to move towards the strait on the initial reopening news were forced to turn back. The liquidation event resulted in $762 million in losses across 168,336 traders, with $593 million of that on the short side. Bitcoin's rally ended in a $590 million shorts rout, with bets on the cryptocurrency accounting for $381 million in liquidations. The setup for the short squeeze had been building for weeks, with funding rates on bitcoin perpetuals pinned negative. The market pattern is now familiar, with ceasefire headlines driving a rally, only to be followed by a reversal headline that forces a unwind. The question now is whether the $76,000 zone will hold into Monday's open, with a clean weekly close above $76K needed to preserve the structural break.