Bitcoin Price Falls to $76,000 Following Iran's Re-closure of the Strait of Hormuz

One of the most substantial short squeezes of 2026 took place within a single session. Bitcoin reached a high of $78,000 on Friday, triggering liquidations totaling $762 million across 168,336 traders, with $593 million of those being short positions, according to CoinGlass. By Saturday evening, bitcoin had retreated to $76,091, representing a mere 0.8% increase for the day, following Iran's announcement that the Strait of Hormuz would be closed to maritime traffic once again, less than 24 hours after its foreign minister declared it fully open. Two tanker owners reported receiving Iranian radio transmissions indicating the closure of the waterway, with one supertanker even experiencing gunfire and aborting its transit. In response to a U.S. blockade of Iranian shipping, the state news agency Nour stated that the Strait of Hormuz would be subject to "strict management and control by the armed forces". Several oil tankers that had approached the strait on Friday, following the initial reopening news, turned back. The breakout rally on Friday ultimately resulted in a $590 million rout for shorts, with bitcoin accounting for $381 million in liquidations, the largest share, followed by ether shorts at $167 million. Shorts outnumbered longs by nearly four to one, representing the most significant short-heavy breakdown in a liquidation event since February. The setup for this event had been building for weeks, with funding rates on bitcoin perpetuals pinned negative, indicating that shorts were paying longs a premium to hold their positions. The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on Friday served as the catalyst that triggered the price movement. Crude oil prices dropped nearly 10% to $85.90 per barrel, and bitcoin broke above the $76,000-$78,000 zone that had capped every rally attempt since the February 5 crash. However, none of these developments survived into Saturday intact. President Donald Trump stated that Iran had agreed to an "unlimited" suspension of its nuclear program, although Tehran never confirmed this claim. The market pattern is now familiar, with ceasefire headlines driving rallies, only to be followed by reversal headlines that prevent the breakout from consolidating. The forced unwind sets up another opportunity to work against. Ether performed better than bitcoin during the retreat, declining by only 0.2% over 24 hours, while solana dropped 1.3% and dogecoin fell 2.1%. On a weekly basis, ether is still up 5.2%, XRP leads at 6.4%, BNB added 4.6%, and bitcoin sits at 4.5%. The question now is whether the $76,000 zone will hold into Monday's open. A clean weekly close above $76,000 would preserve the structural break, even if the peace trade continues to whipsaw. A loss of this level would put bitcoin back in the same range it has been trapped in since March, only this time with the short base that just got wiped out looking to rebuild.