The brief surge of bitcoin towards $80,000 lost momentum on Monday, with the cryptocurrency's price slipping back to $76,600 during the US trading session as geopolitical concerns regained attention. After reaching its highest level since early February, near $80,000, bitcoin reversed direction and declined by about 1.5% over the past 24 hours.
Major alternative cryptocurrencies followed suit, with ether, XRP, and solana each falling around 3%, while the CoinDesk 20 Index, a benchmark for the broader digital assets market, dropped about 2% on Monday. The decline comes as investors become increasingly cautious about the outlook for US-Iran negotiations and the ongoing disruption to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil transit route.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Iran has proposed a ceasefire on ships in the strait in exchange for a complete end to the war, including the lifting of the US naval blockade and postponing nuclear talks. The proposal aims to restart stalled negotiations, but uncertainty remains high after President Trump canceled the planned visit of US envoys to Pakistan for talks with the Iranian side over the weekend.
Oil prices continued their upward trend, with Brent crude oil prices rising more than 3% to $107 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate crude oil increasing by 2.6% to $97. The Nasdaq declined by 0.3% in morning trading, retreating from recent record highs, while the S&P 500 was flat ahead of a significant earnings week that includes major firms such as Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple.
Meanwhile, stocks linked to the crypto sector declined across the board, with shares of crypto exchange Coinbase falling 1.5%, Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, dropping 3.5%, and Galaxy Digital, a digital asset investment firm, sliding nearly 6%. Underlying bitcoin's price action is a market struggling to gain momentum despite strong demand from institutions.
Analysts at Bitfinex noted that short-term bitcoin holders who are in profit have been selling into strength, offsetting new demand from ETF buyers and other investors. The analysts stated that the most likely path in the near term is consolidation or a pullback towards the $75,000 region, adding that a decisive break above $80,000 is required to confirm a more durable bullish trend.