Bitcoin Falls to $62,236 After U.S.-Iran Accord Wipes Rally

Bitcoin dropped 5% to $62,236 after a U.S.-Iran peace accord erased gains from earlier in the week. The slide cut the broader cryptocurrency market capitalization by 4.3% to $2.24 trillion and reduced bitcoin’s market value to about $1.25 trillion. The price is 7.5% below its June 15 peak above $67,300.

The session began with bitcoin testing the $66,000 area shortly after midday Wednesday. The price fell to just above $64,000 and held there until about an hour before midnight, when selling pushed it to $63,643. Bitcoin briefly recovered to around $64,500, then slipped below $64,000, climbed back to $64,340 and lost roughly $2,000 over two hours to reach an intraday low of $62,236. It later stabilized just above $62,400.

Traders faced large liquidations during the downturn. About $177 million in bitcoin long positions were wiped out over 24 hours, while roughly $19 million in short positions were lost. Across the wider market, liquidations totaled about $601 million in long bets and $85.6 million in short bets.

Equity markets moved higher after the presidents of the U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding. Japan’s Nikkei closed up 1.65% and South Korea’s Kospi rose past the 9,000-point mark. U.S. indexes were higher at the time, with the Nasdaq up 1.71%, the S&P 500 up 1.22% and the Dow rising 0.5%.

Energy prices fell after the accord. West Texas Intermediate briefly dipped below $74 per barrel and Brent crude fell below $77. Reports that oil tankers transited the Strait of Hormuz through a U.S. blockade coincided with lower crude and gas prices.

The peace accord corresponded with the reversal of earlier crypto gains and reduced the overall crypto economy’s capitalization to $2.24 trillion from higher levels earlier in the week, reflecting declines across major tokens.