Bitcoin Holds Onto $70,000 After Oil Prices Spike On Trump’s Strait of Hormuz Blockade

• Bitcoin’s price fell after President Donald Trump announced a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following failed peace talks over the weekend.
• The overall cryptocurrency market edged lower and fell below $2.5 trillion. 
• MN Fund founder and chief investment officer, Michael van de Poppe, cited three on-chain indicators at record lows, which indicated that Bitcoin’s price may have already bottomed out. 

Bitcoin (BTC) held near $70,000 early Monday after briefly nearing $74,000 over the weekend, tumbling lower after a surge in crude oil prices following President Donald Trump’s announcement of a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as peace talks broke down.

Bitcoin's price fell 1.1% in the last 24 hours to around $70,800. The overall cryptocurrency market edged 0.7% lower, falling below $2.5 trillion. CoinGlass data showed $184 million liquidated in the last 24 hours, with over $100 million coming from long positions that were forced to unwind.

Brent crude oil prices rose over 8% on the day, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices gained more than 9%. The United States Oil Fund (USO) jumped as much as 7.43% in pre-market trade. Retail sentiment around the ETF on Stocktwits remained in ‘extremely bearish’ territory over the past day, and chatter remained at ‘high’ levels. 

Bitcoin Holds Onto ‘Important’ Level

According to MN Fund founder and chief investment officer Michael van pe Poppe, Bitcoin’s price is holding onto an “important” level amid the oil price surge. He noted that three on-chain indicators that signal whether Bitcoin is cheap to buy are currently at record lows. 

“For sure, markets can tumble and sweep the lows for liquidity, but I don't think we'll see much more downside in the markets, or at least 90% of the downside is already captured,” he wrote in a post on X. 

Crypto analyst Ted Pillows, Bitcoin’s price could bounce back from the $70,000 levels to “trap the late shorts.”

What Are Retail Traders Thinking About Bitcoin?

Among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Binance Coin (BNB) and Tron (TRX) were the only two in the green, each edging higher by around 0.5%. Ethereum (ETH) was the only altcoin to fall more than Bitcoin, moving 1.2% lower in the last 24 hours. 

Ethereum’s price was trading at around $2,190 at the time of writing. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around ETH rose to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ territory over the past day, accompanied by chatter at ‘high’ levels. 

Meanwhile, retail sentiment around Bitcoin fell to ‘neutral’ from ‘bullish’ territory over the past day, and chatter increased to ‘high’ from ‘normal’ levels. 

Some users were ‘bullish’ on Bitcoin due to the widening Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) gap over the weekend and expected prices to move back to fill that gap when trading resumed Monday. 

Some debated the impact of the U.S.-Iran war, while others questioned the impact of the CLARITY Act, potentially progressing this week.

Bitcoin's price remained over 40% below its record high of over $126,000 seen in October. 

Read also: Bitcoin Reclaims $72,000 While CPI Data Shows Inflation Holding At 3.3%

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