The $73,000 cap that rejected Bitcoin three times in eight days has just fallen.
Bitcoin jumped 4.8% to $74,484 late Monday, its highest price since the start of the Iran war in late February, after President Trump signaled his willingness to resume negotiations with Tehran even as the United States blockaded the Strait of Hormuz.
The move triggered $534 million in crypto liquidations among 180,000 traders, including $430 million from short sales, the second major squeeze in less than a week.
Ether led the majors with a 7.7% jump to $2,366, now up 12.4% for the week and significantly outperforming bitcoin. Solana SOL climbed 4.6% to $85.80, up 7.6% for the week. BNB gained 3.3% to $615.80. XRP rose 2.9% to $1.36. Dogecoin added 2.7% to $0.094. Each asset in the top 10 is green on the daily and weekly chart.
The largest liquidation was a $12.4 million BTC-USDT short sale on Aster. Bitcoin accounted for $229 million in total liquidations and ether followed at $136 million. Smaller token RAVE added $43 million in liquidations as prices surged 66%, and Solana contributed $12 million.
The S&P 500 has now erased all losses triggered by the Iran conflict, with the MSCI All Country World Index heading for its eighth straight day of gains, the longest winning streak since September.
Brent crude fell 1.3% to $98 as markets priced in the possibility of further negotiations before the April 7 ceasefire expires next week. Treasury yields fell a basis point to 4.28% as the price of oil eased inflation fears.
The 12-hour liquidation window is where the damage was concentrated, with $379 million wiped out during that period, including $327 million from short sales. The ratio of short to long liquidations, about 4 to 1 over 12 hours, reflects how the market was still in a failing position at $73,000, even after last week’s ceasefire rally had already penalized this trade once.
For Bitcoin in particular, the break above $73,000 places the next price resistance realized by traders near $79,000, the level that analytics firm CryptoQuant identified as the point where active traders who bought during the pullback return to break-even and tend to sell.
Between here and there, the path presents less technical resistance than at any time since the start of the war.
However, the risk remains the same. Trump ordered the blockade of Hormuz after weekend talks in Islamabad and reached no agreement. The ceasefire expires next week. But the United States and Iran are discussing a new round of negotiations, and the blockade itself is being interpreted by markets as a targeted pressure tool rather than an escalation, intended to reduce Iran’s oil revenues while paving the way for possible shipping consumption.
