Bitcoin Rebounds Toward $66K as U.S.-Iran Peace Hopes Lift Markets
Bitcoin moved higher on Monday as optimism surrounding a U.S.-Iran peace agreement supported risk-sensitive markets.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency also benefited from a slowdown in withdrawals from U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. However, the funds still recorded their fifth consecutive week of net outflows.
Bitcoin gained 2.3% to trade at approximately $65,810 by 01:26 ET, or 05:26 GMT.
U.S.-Iran Peace Deal Improves Market Sentiment
The United States and Iran confirmed on Sunday that they had reached a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending their conflict. The two countries are expected to formally sign the agreement on Friday.
The proposed deal includes an immediate halt to hostilities. It also calls for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen within 30 days.
In addition, Washington and Tehran plan to begin discussions over Iran’s nuclear program. Negotiations may also cover the release of Iranian assets currently frozen abroad.
The announcement raised hopes that the conflict’s impact on the global economy could ease. Investors responded by moving back into higher-risk assets.
Asian stock markets advanced, while Wall Street futures also moved higher during regional trading.
Bitcoin ETF Outflows Begin to Slow
Outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs continued last week, but the pace of withdrawals declined significantly.
The funds recorded approximately $315.8 million in net outflows. This was much lower than the weekly withdrawals of more than $1 billion seen during the previous four weeks.
Despite the improvement, spot Bitcoin ETFs still registered their fifth straight week of capital outflows.
Continued institutional withdrawals have limited Bitcoin’s recovery after the cryptocurrency fell to its lowest levels of the year during the past month.
AI Stocks Compete With Crypto for Investor Capital
Cryptocurrency markets have also faced pressure from growing demand for artificial intelligence stocks.
Some investors have shifted capital toward AI-related companies, which they may view as offering clearer earnings prospects and more traditional business fundamentals.
This rotation has reduced the amount of investment flowing into Bitcoin and other digital assets.
Altcoins Record Moderate Gains
The broader cryptocurrency market also moved higher on Monday. However, gains remained limited following the sharp declines recorded in recent weeks.
Ether climbed 2.3% to approximately $1,717.60, while XRP advanced by 2.9%.
Cardano and Solana each gained more than 4%. Meanwhile, BNB increased by around 1%.
Among major memecoins, Dogecoin rose 1.1%, while the Official Trump token declined by approximately 2.5%.
