hodler

31 Mar 2026, 19:39

Bitcoin Price Rallies to $68,400 as Iran's President Signals Peace with US, Seeks Guarantees

Bitcoin price climbed above $68,000 on Tuesday after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was ready to end the war if it received security guarantees against further attacks. The move lifted broader risk sentiment and pushed the largest cryptocurrency to an intraday high near $68,400, according to the market data cited in the report. The rally came after Bitcoin had traded below $66,000 earlier in the session. However, at press time, the BTC price surge had slowed down, with Coincodex showing a gain of more than 1.44% from its intraday low to trade at $67,754. The rebound followed a wider market reaction as investors responded to what appeared to be the clearest diplomatic signal from Tehran in recent days. Pezeshkian said Iran did not seek war and was prepared to stop fighting, but only if it received formal guarantees that attacks would not resume. He also said Iran had entered earlier diplomatic talks in good faith before military strikes by the United States and Israel took place. His comments were read by markets as a possible opening for de-escalation, even though his demand for guarantees left a clear condition attached to any settlement. The market also had support from earlier comments by US President Donald Trump, who had indicated that the conflict could end soon. Reports by WSJ earlier today also said Trump had told aides he was willing to wind down the military campaign even if the Strait of Hormuz remained largely closed, while pushing diplomacy and leaving any wider effort to reopen the waterway to allies at a later stage. Diplomatic Shift Lifts Crypto and Broader Markets The reaction was not limited to Bitcoin. Equity markets also moved higher after Pezeshkian’s remarks. The S&P 500 gained 162 points, the Nasdaq rose 675 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added more than 1,000 points, according to the figures cited in the report. Treasury yields also moved lower, with the 10-year yield falling to 4.292% and the two-year yield dropping to 3.768%. That mix of higher equities and lower bond yields suggested investors were reducing part of the geopolitical premium that had built up during the conflict. Bitcoin appeared to benefit from the same shift, especially as traders who had been watching the war and oil prices closely moved back into risk assets. The latest comments also came after days of volatility linked to the Strait of Hormuz and energy markets. The war had pushed oil prices higher and raised inflation concerns, which had pressured both equities and crypto. Any sign that hostilities could slow was therefore enough to help reverse part of that move. Institutional Demand and Political Risk Stay in Focus Market participants also continued to cite institutional demand as a support factor for Bitcoin. Tony Pecore, a director at Franklin Templeton, said institutional buying had remained firm even when Bitcoin dropped from $126,000 to $60,000. He said the market now appeared to be preparing for another move higher. At the same time, he said the US midterm elections later this year remain an important variable. According to his remarks, political uncertainty and possible changes to the regulatory framework could weigh on investor sentiment during the fourth quarter. That leaves Bitcoin supported by two forces at once. On one side, there is steady demand from larger investors. On the other hand, there is the risk that politics and regulation could make the second half of the year more volatile. On-Chain Signals Point to a Possible Bottoming Phase Alongside the geopolitical news, on-chain market signals also remain part of the outlook. Recent commentary cited a decline in long-term holders' SOPR below 1, a condition indicating that even long-term Bitcoin holders are selling at a loss. Because these investors usually react less to short-term price swings, such behavior is often treated as a sign of broader capitulation across the market. Historically, periods when losses have become broad among both short-term and long-term holders have often occurred near major bottoms or long-term low zones. That does not confirm that Bitcoin has already formed a final bottom, but it suggests that selling pressure may be moving toward exhaustion. Source: CryptoQuant For now, Bitcoin’s jump to $68,400 shows how quickly sentiment can shift when war headlines soften. The next move will likely depend on whether Iran and the United States can turn these signals into an actual agreement and whether traders continue to treat recent on-chain stress as the final phase of fear rather than the start of another leg lower.

31 Mar 2026, 19:20

Inflation in the euro area surges to 2.5% in March, stats show

Inflation in the eurozone soared in March, mainly as a result of increasing energy costs across the Old Continent, driven higher by the ongoing conflict in the Persian Gulf. Consumer prices have jumped on both annual and monthly basis, raising expectations that the European Central Bank may intervene with interest rate hikes in April or later. Expensive energy is behind rising prices in the euro area The sudden disruption of energy supplies and markets, caused by the surprise U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran at the end of February, has fueled prices in the eurozone this month. Annual inflation surged to 2.5% in March, according to preliminary data released by the Eurostat office on Tuesday and quoted by regional media. The indicator stood at 1.9% in February, when it was hovering just below the 2% target set by central bankers in Frankfurt. Month-over-month, consumer prices in the countries using the single currency increased by 1.2%, which is the steepest monthly rise since October 2022, as noted by Euronews. It isn’t very hard to pinpoint the main driver – energy inflation reached 4.9% year-on-year this month, after contracting by 3.1% the previous. That’s a total of eight percentage points within a few weeks of the start of the war, in which the Islamic Republic retaliated by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz. The latter accounted for the transit of around 20% of global oil and gas shipments before the conflict which sent their prices into a spiral. Brent crude has surged past $100 per barrel, a 50% increase in March, while natural gas is now selling in Europe 80% higher than a year ago. European inflation is “entirely due to higher energy prices,” according to Bert Colijn, an economist at the Dutch bank ING. “The price at the pump is the main culprit,” he concluded, quoted by Euractiv. Euro area annual inflation in March 2026 (%). Source: Eurostat Among the eurozone countries, Croatia had the highest inflation, at 4.7%, followed closely by Lithuania, with 4.5%. Ireland registered 3.6%, while Spain and Greece each recorded 3.3%. Germany , the economic powerhouse of the euro area, saw 2.8% inflation, 0.8 percentage points higher than its February figure. Italy’s inflation remained unchanged, at 1.5%, and France had a below-average 1.9%. Meanwhile, Eurostat’s flash estimate showed that core inflation, which excludes energy and food prices as well as alcohol and tobacco, has actually dropped this month, from 2.4% to 2.3%. At the same time, inflation in the services sector eased slightly, too – from 3.4% to 3.2% – and the prices of non-energy industrial goods fell from 0.7% to 0.5%. ECB’s response to the high inflation is still uncertain Analysts are now trying to predict if the European Central Bank (ECB) will return to interest rate hikes in the months to come. While many expect tightening later this year, it’s unclear what the regulator will do in the short term. Last week, President Christine Lagarde admitted that even a brief spike beyond the target might warrant action on the part of the monetary authority. She emphasized, however, that the bank will make its decision based on firm data, not forecasts. The next meeting of the ECB’s Governing Council is scheduled for April 30. According to ING’s Colijn, the likelihood of broader increases in both core inflation and headline inflation grows with the continuation of the war and the disruption it causes. He commented: “With much uncertainty around how the Middle East conflict will evolve, many scenarios for inflation remain possible, and that’s why the ECB is right to be on high alert.” BNP Paribas economists Stéphane Colliac and Guillaume Derrien believe core inflation will remain stable in the second quarter and oil will continue to trade above $100. In that case, the ECB may start tightening in June and increase the rate with 75 basis points by the fall. According to the EU’s Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, inflation could exceed 3% this year while output may remain below 1% in both 2026 and 2027. “For now, the outlook is clouded by profound uncertainty,” he told the media last Friday, warning, “it is clear that we are at risk of a stagflationary shock.” With that in mind, the ECB is now facing the same dilemma it had to deal with in 2022, the year when the Ukraine war started. The choice is between policy tightening to tame inflation expectations or refraining from rate hikes amid a weakening economy. Your keys, your card. Spend without giving up custody and earn 8%+ yield on your balance with Ether.fi Cash.

31 Mar 2026, 19:08

Bitcoin, Crypto Stocks Climb on Reports That Iran's President Is 'Ready to End War'

Stocks are surging while Bitcoin and Ethereum hit their highest prices in days after Iran's president said he's looking to end the conflict.

31 Mar 2026, 18:30

Did Coinbase Refuse To List XRP On Purpose? Ripple Exec’s Old Tweets Resurface

The XRP community has drawn attention to old X posts by Ripple’s CTO Emeritus, David Schwartz , suggesting that Coinbase may have refused to list XRP on purpose. Schwartz had also suggested that the exchange asked Ripple for money before it could list the altcoin. Ripple’s CTO Emeritus X Posts Reveal Coinbase XRP Listing Saga Crypto pundit Digital Asset Investor drew attention to old X posts from the Ripple executive in which he discussed the Coinbase XRP listing story and a hypothetical scenario in which Ripple was asked to pay listing fees for XRP. In the first X post , which was made back in May 2023, Schwartz said, “The story of Coinbase listing XRP is the only story I most wish I could tell that I can’t.” The Ripple CTO Emeritus’ statement was in response to a question by another X user who asked how much the firm likely paid Coinbase to list XRP. This has raised speculations that the exchange may have initially refused to list XRP. In June 2023, Schwartz made another X post in which he described a “hypothetical” scenario in which an exchange refused to list XRP despite it being in its interest. Instead, the exchange asked Ripple to pay millions before it could list XRP and told Ripple it would have listed XRP a while ago if the crypto firm hadn’t existed. The CTO Emeritus said they finally reached an agreement with the exchange, and then the exchange listed XRP. Upon XRP’s listing , Schwartz said the altcoin accounted for 20% of the exchange’s revenue. Schwartz’s prior post in May 2023, in which he mentioned Coinbase, has led members of the XRP community to conclude that the Ripple CTO Emeritus was likely referring to Coinbase in the hypothetical scenario he painted. The Impact Of The SEC Lawsuit It is worth noting that Coinbase had listed XRP before the SEC lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020, but moved to delist the token in 2021 as the lawsuit took shape. This was based on the SEC’s claim that XRP was a security. The crypto exchange then relisted XRP in July 2023 after Judge Analisa Torres declared that XRP wasn’t a security. In his hypothetical scenario, Schwartz said that a litigation adversary used the fact that they paid money for XRP’s listing to imply that the crypto firm was using money to unfairly boost XRP’s adoption or liquidity. However, the CTO Emeritus said they simply paid the money to avoid their existence hurting the XRP ecosystem. The XRP price was negatively impacted during the lawsuit, which lasted for five years. At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $1.32, down over 2% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

31 Mar 2026, 18:02

Bitcoin and S&P 500 Surged, Oil Plunged as Iran Says It’s Ready to End the War

Financial markets faced more volatility in the past hour or so, including bitcoin, which just jumped to a five-day peak of $68,500 before it was stopped and driven south by a grand. The most likely reason for these enhanced fluctuations was the emerging reports that Iran’s President Pezeshkian said his country is ready to end the war with the US if it receives certain guarantees. However, the details about the nature of these guarantees are quite scarce, with analysts expecting more information in the following hours. BREAKING: Iran’s President Pezeshkian says Iran is ready to end the war with the US but wants guarantees. US stocks are surging on the news. pic.twitter.com/O1cePDFw6Q — The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) March 31, 2026 Aside from BTC, which rose by a few grand before it was rejected, the S&P 500 went on a wild run, surging from 6,320 to 6,520 in minutes. In contrast, oil prices dumped by 5% in minutes. USOIL dropped from $105 per barrel to under $100 before it recovered some ground to $102 as of now. These are multi-trillion-dollar moves in the matter of hours, which included another one from earlier today – a drop from $107 to $101 and a subsequent rebound to $105. US Oil Price on TradingView. March 31 The post Bitcoin and S&P 500 Surged, Oil Plunged as Iran Says It’s Ready to End the War appeared first on CryptoPotato .

31 Mar 2026, 17:59

Iran Signals Diplomatic Opening on US-Israel War With Strict Non-Negotiable Conditions

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that any decision to end the war with the United States and Israel must guarantee the security and interests of the Iranian people, reaffirming conditions Tehran has held since hostilities began. Tehran Holds Firm on Reparations, Rights as Conflict Continues Speaking at a cabinet meeting reported by state news agency