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

A major short squeeze in 2026 occurred within a single session. Bitcoin reached $78,000 on Friday, triggering $762 million in liquidations, with $593 million of those being short positions. However, by Saturday evening, bitcoin had retreated to $76,091, a mere 0.8% gain for the day, as Iran announced the reclosure of the Strait of Hormuz to maritime traffic. This move came less than 24 hours after the foreign minister declared it fully open. The decision was reportedly made in response to a US blockade of Iranian shipping, with state news agency Nour stating that Hormuz would be under 'strict management and control by the armed forces'. As a result, several oil tankers turned back, and the initial reopening rally ended with a $590 million shorts rout. Bets on bitcoin accounted for $381 million in liquidations, followed by ether shorts at $167 million. The setup for this 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. Friday's Hormuz reopening served as the catalyst, causing crude oil to drop nearly 10% and bitcoin to break above the $76,000-$78,000 zone. However, none of these developments survived into Saturday intact. The market pattern is now familiar, with ceasefire headlines driving a rally, only to be followed by a reversal headline that prevents the breakout from consolidating. As a result, the forced unwind gets another setup to work against. Ether performed better than bitcoin, with a 0.2% decline over 24 hours, while solana and dogecoin dropped 1.3% and 2.1%, respectively. 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 looking to rebuild.