Bitcoin surged above $77,000 as oil futures fell 10% after Iran’s foreign minister declared the Strait of Hormuz open for the remainder of the ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran. Update (4.17.26 6:43 PM UTC): This article has been updated to reflect updated BTC prices and rally data. Iran’s foreign minister said Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is open to commercial vessel traffic for the remainder of the current ceasefire, prompting quick market reactions. “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi in a Friday X post. Read more
Analysts say reclaiming $76,000, sustained spot market buy volume and consistent inflows to the Bitcoin ETFs are the necessary components required for a rally to new highs. Bitcoin (BTC) struggles to reclaim price highs above $76,000, but analysts say that the uptrend may continue if key conditions are met. Bitcoin’s 8% climb over the last three days saw it reclaim key levels, including the 50-day exponential moving average (EMA) at $71,000. “$76K is the level that decides everything,” analyst Crypto Patel said in a Wednesday post on X, adding: Read more
Bitcoin price has entered the breakout stage of a classic bullish reversal pattern and is now eyeing a run toward $90,000. Bitcoin (BTC) appears on track to hit $90,000 in the coming weeks as whales accumulated about 20 times the cryptocurrency’s daily new supply in the past weeks. Key takeaways: Whales bought roughly 270,000 BTC in the past 30 days. Read more
Bitcoin consolidates between $73,000 and $75,000 as liquidations trigger a short squeeze, but weak spot demand keeps the upside momentum in check. Bitcoin (BTC) traded between $75,000 and $73,000 over a three-hour period during the New York market open on Thursday, and the abrupt downside move liquidated $283 million in futures positions. The resulting short squeeze pushed BTC back toward $75,000, but sustaining the rebound will require steady buying volume in the spot market. A sharp move lower to $73,200 from $75,400 triggered a wave of long liquidations across the futures markets, totaling to $166 million, according to market commentator CryptoReviewing. The price then reversed quickly, pushing back toward $75,000 and liquidating roughly $117 million in short positions, highlighting a rapid two-sided squeeze within the same trading window. Read more
Bitcoin’s futures funding rate has remained negative even as BTC bounced back above $75,000. Should traders be worried? Key takeaways: Negative Bitcoin futures funding rates signal bear-market losses and forced liquidations rather than a shift in sentiment. Institutional inflows into Bitcoin ETFs and corporate accumulation suggest that spot demand remains solid. Read more
Traders say Bitcoin has room to rally higher, but the upside could be capped at BTC’s active supply cost basis near $78,000. Market analysts said Bitcoin’s (BTC) latest rally to $76,000 was a “clear momentum shift,” confirming a short-term uptrend for BTC price. Bitcoin’s short-term holder (STH) supply in profit, a measure of the share of recently acquired coins currently held at an unrealized gain, suggests that BTC/USD has not exhausted its bear market rally, data from Glassnode shows. Local tops in bear market rallies have historically formed when this metric approaches its statistical mean of 54.2%, a threshold where the concentration of profitable STHs becomes sufficient to trigger meaningful distribution. Read more
Schwab will introduce direct trading in the two biggest cryptos through a dedicated account, its first move into spot trading as it expands its digital asset offerings. Charles Schwab, one of the largest US brokerage firms, will roll out spot cryptocurrency trading for retail clients in the coming weeks, starting with Bitcoin and Ether through a dedicated account linked to its brokerage platform. According to Thursday’s announcement, the offering will allow clients to trade and view crypto alongside stocks and other assets across Schwab’s web, mobile and Thinkorswim platforms, with custody held by its banking unit and execution handled through a partnership with Paxos, a federally regulated trust company. Schwab reported $12.22 trillion in total client assets as of February 2026, according to its latest filings, and operates as a brokerage providing trading, banking and wealth management services. Read more
Bitcoin trades below the profitability threshold for active holders, with early signs of BTC demand offering limited price support for now. Bitcoin (BTC) hit range highs above $76,000 on Wednesday, but Glassnode analysts say data suggest that calling for the start of a new bull market is premature. New capital inflows have stayed weak, with Bitcoin’s growth rate remaining negative across all 105 trading days in 2026, highlighting a gap between stable price action and limited new demand. Glassnode analyst CryptoViz.art uses the true market mean (TMM) to estimate the average cost basis of active BTC investors. The metric divides investor capitalization by liveliness-adjusted circulating supply, filtering out inactive coins and the lost supply. Read more
Bitcoin attempted to recover the $75,000 level as US stocks chase after a second day of fresh all-time highs. Is the bull market back on? Bitcoin (BTC) treaded water at Thursday’s Wall Street open as the S&P 500 reached new all-time highs. Key points: Bitcoin stays locked on $74,000 after its local highs preceded a new record for the S&P 500. Read more
Back said at Paris Blockchain Week that Bitcoin’s post-quantum shift may reveal the true size of the stash held by Satoshi Nakamoto, estimated at between 500,000 and 1 million BTC. Blockstream CEO Adam Back said Thursday that a future post-quantum migration of Bitcoin could help clarify how many coins linked to Satoshi Nakamoto remain accessible, because any owner wanting to protect vulnerable holdings would need to move them to a new address format. Speaking at Paris Blockchain Week, Back said such a migration would likely give users ample time to move funds and argued that coins left unmoved after that process could reasonably be treated as lost. “This migration to post-quantum address format may tell us how many of those coins [Satoshi] still has,” said Back, adding that the pseudonymous creator has an estimated 500,000 to 1 million Bitcoin (BTC). Read more
Executives at Paris Blockchain Week said European firms interested in Bitcoin treasury strategies are working around shallower capital markets and tighter constraints than in the US. European companies exploring Bitcoin treasury strategies are unlikely to replicate the playbook pioneered by Michael Saylor’s Strategy, according to industry executives, who pointed to structural differences between US and European capital markets. Speaking at Paris Blockchain Week 2026, Thomas Vogel, a partner in the Paris and Frankfurt offices of Latham & Watkins, said the constraints on issuing financial instruments in Europe differ significantly from those in the US, making a direct replication of the model difficult. “If you issue convertibles in the US, the constraints are not the same as when you issue them out of a French balance sheet or a balance sheet in Europe,” Vogel said, pointing to differences in market depth, regulation and investor behavior. Read more