Bitcoin rose on Monday, as risk assets received a major boost on Middle East de-escalation hopes.
President Donald Trump touted "productive" talks with Iran and said the U.S. would postpone all strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure for five days.
At 17:38 ET (21:38 GMT), Bitcoin jumped 4.5% to $70,947.6. The world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading in the red before Trump’s remarks.
However, Iran’s Fars news agency, citing a source, said there are no direct or indirect communications with the United States. The report also said the U.S. decision to delay strikes on Iranian power plants followed a warning from Iran that it would target energy infrastructure across West Asia in response.
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Trump touts ’productive’ talks, possible end to the war Trump in a social media post on Monday morning said that the U.S. and Iran over the weekend had "very good and productive conversations regarding and complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East."
He added that strikes on Iran’s "power plants and energy infrastructure" would be delayed for five days.
However, Iranian state media said Tehran has had no direct discussions with the U.S. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson dismissed claims of any talks and said the country’s position on the Strait of Hormuz and the "prerequisites for ending the war remains exactly as before," state media said.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Iran’s Fars news agency reported that there are no direct or indirect communications with the U.S. Fars added that Trump has backed down on targeting Iranian power plants following Iranian threats to retaliate with strikes on similar sites in West Asia.
"We have had very, very strong talks. We’ll see where they lead. We have major points of agreement ... They went, I would say perfectly," Trump later told reporters outside Air Force One.
"We have a very serious chance of making a deal. That doesn’t guarantee anything ... We are in the throes of a real possibility of making a deal ... But again, I’m not guaranteeing anything," the president added.
"The most important question confronting financial markets in the United States is whether to believe what the President of the United States told the people of the United States about whether the United States is in talks, or whether to believe Iran’s leaders," Justin Wolfers, professor of economics at the University of Michigan, said on X.
Trump on Saturday had said that Iran had 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face U.S. strikes on critical energy infrastructure.
Tehran responded by threatening to completely close the Strait, and that it would also attack key energy and water infrastructure in Gulf countries as retaliation for U.S. aggression.
Bitcoin fares better than gold amid Iran, rate tensions
Bitcoin performed relatively better than gold and other precious metals this month since the start of the conflict, with bullion seeing limited bids despite heightened global geopolitical tensions.
