Bitcoin on Wednesday traded at its highest level since early February and briefly topped $79,000, after President Donald Trump’s extension of a ceasefire with Iran boosted risk appetite.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency was last up 4% to $78,586.2 at 17:30 ET (21:30 GMT), after earlier rising to a session high of $79,446.3. It was set for a third straight day of gains.
"Bitcoin is increasingly behaving as a hybrid asset, drawing inflows during periods of easing tensions and as a hedge during geopolitical uncertainty. Technically, $80,000 is the next significant resistance level, and the daily MACD suggests moderate upside momentum," David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said.
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Trump announces Iran ceasefire extension, but tensions high Just minutes after the closing bell on Wall Street on Tuesday, Trump announced an indefinite extension to an ongoing two-week ceasefire with Iran, saying it was partly driven by requests from Pakistani officials seeking more time for peace negotiations in Islamabad.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday told reporters that the president chose to extend the ceasefire "because it’s Iran who needs to get their act together." Meanwhile, Trump told the New York Post that more talks were "possible" as early as Friday.
Iran, for its part, kept up a harsh public rhetoric, with state media saying Tehran had decided not to join any new round of talks with the U.S., citing Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson. State media also said Iran had not yet announced an official position on the extension of the ceasefire.
Leavitt said that what Iran says "publicly is much different than what they concede to the U.S. and our negotiating team privately."
Despite the ceasefire extension, tensions have not fully abated. The U.S. has maintained a naval blockade on Iranian ports, while disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz continue. Exacerbating the situation, three ships were attacked by the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps near the strait, according to Iran’s state media and shipping monitor UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre.
Strategy bought $2.5 bln worth of BTC last week Away from the Iran war, renewed institutional demand also buoyed crypto prices. Strategy disclosed a $2.5 billion acquisition of Bitcoin, one of its largest purchases on record.
The company said it bought 34,164 bitcoins during the week ended April 19 at an average price of about $74,395 per token, taking total holdings to roughly 815,000 coins acquired for about $61.6 billion.
The purchase was funded primarily through capital markets activity, with Strategy raising roughly $2.18 billion via sales of its high-yield preferred shares and an additional $366 million through common stock issuance.
These preferred securities, offering yields of around 11.5%, have become a key financing tool, allowing the firm to scale its Bitcoin exposure while attempting to limit dilution from equity issuance.
Justin Sun sues Trump family’s crypto venture over frozen tokens Elsewhere, Tron founder Justin Sun filed a federal lawsuit in California against World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture, alleging the project froze his tokens, stripped his voting rights, and threatened to permanently destroy his holdings without notice, cause, or recourse.
"They have left me with no choice but to turn to the courts," Sun wrote on social media, adding that he does not believe Trump "would condone these actions if he knew about them."
Sun became World Liberty’s largest single token holder after purchasing $75 million worth of WLFI tokens in late 2024. Last September, the project blacklisted his wallet following transactions that appeared to breach his investment terms, though Sun denied any intention to sell.
"All I want is to be treated the same as every other early investor who received tokens—no better, no worse," he said Tuesday.
Crypto price today: altcoins rise, Ethereum up nearly 4% Most altcoins also traded higher on Wednesday.
World no.2 crypto Ethereum rose 3.7% to $2,398.61.
World no. 3 crypto XRP added 1.2% to $1.4401.
Cardano and Solana advanced 1.7% and 2.8%, respectively.
Among meme tokens, Dogecoin climbed 2.1%.
