Bitcoin Tops $76K After Iran Reopens Strait; Ketman IDs 100 DPRK

Bitcoin climbed above $76,000 on Friday after Iran’s foreign minister posted that commercial passage through the Strait of Hormuz is open for the remainder of the current ceasefire. The cryptocurrency briefly reached $77,037, according to market data.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi posted on X, “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.” U.S. President Donald Trump posted a confirmation on Truth Social.

Brent crude futures fell about 10% to near $85 per barrel on the same session. The ceasefire between the U.S., Israel and Iran runs until April 22.

The Ethereum Foundation funded a six-month ETH Rangers program that provided stipends for public goods security work. One recipient used the funding to run the Ketman Project. The Ketman team reported it identified “100 different DPRK IT workers operating within Web3 organizations” and reached out to roughly 53 projects to alert them to potential hires linked to North Korea.

The Ethereum Foundation, in a program recap, described the Ketman findings as addressing “one of the most pressing operational security threats facing the Ethereum ecosystem today.”

At a House Agriculture Committee hearing, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig told lawmakers he would not pause rulemaking while the agency operates with a single commissioner. Selig told the panel he could not commit to refraining from rulemaking and emphasized the need for investor and consumer protections. The White House has not announced nominees to fill the other commission seats.

Market data on Friday recorded the intraday rise in bitcoin and the drop in oil futures. The Ketman Project disclosure and comments from the CFTC chair were released during the trading day and noted by market participants.