Bitcoin Halts Gains as US-Iran War, Hormuz Closure Make a Comeback

Bitcoin (BTC) sought to protect $75,000 into Sunday’s weekly close as crypto surfed fresh uncertainty over the US-Iran war.

Key points:

• Bitcoin price action sinks from ten-week highs amid fears that the US-Iran war has returned in full force.

• Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, bringing back the risk of an oil-price surge.

• BTC price action faces ongoing resistance at a 21-week trend line into the weekly close.

Bitcoin abandons highs as US-Iran war fears return

Data from TradingView showed BTC price pressure reentering after a trip to ten-week highs of $78,400 on Friday.

Mixed signals from US and Iranian sources characterized the weekend, with an assumed ceasefire and mutual agreements between the two sides now seemingly undone.

Among the latest developments was the repeat closure of the Strait of Hormuz, putting the focus on oil futures on the day. News of a ceasefire had sent WTI crude below $80 per barrel for the first time since March 10.

“We expect an eventful Sunday ahead,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter summarized in ongoing analysis on X.

As BTC/USD circled local highs, and sentiment with it, market participants stayed cautious. Trading resource Material Indicators noted that the entire market mood could flip on relatively little input, such as a social media post.

“Sentiment is overwhelmingly bullish at the moment, but that could change with one Tweet in the coming days. Know your invalidations,” it told X followers.

Data from CoinGlass showed long positions coming under fire during the BTC price retracement, with total crypto liquidations at $260 million over the past 24 hours.

BTC price capped by resistance trend line

Continuing, trader Daan Crypto Trades eyed a potential gap in CME Group’s Bitcoin futures market opening as a result of the weekend comedown.

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As Cointelegraph reported, such gaps often act as short-term price magnets when the new week begins.

“It’s going to be interesting to see the futures open today and how $OIL will react to the recent headlines regarding the strait,” he added.

Looking at the weekly close, trader and analyst Rekt Capital placed importance on Bitcoin’s 21-week exponential moving average (EMA) near $78,900.

“Bitcoin is rejecting from the 21-week EMA (green),” he observed alongside the weekly chart.