Bitcoin rose 3% to $69,120 on Monday as traders returned from the Easter weekend as optimism over a possible ceasefire in Iran pushed the largest cryptocurrency to its highest level in more than a week and squeezed $196 million in short positions in the past 24 hours.
Ethereum led gains among major coins, rising 3.7% to $2,130, its strongest single-day gain in the past week. SOL was up 2% at $82, XRP was up 2.2% at $1.34, and Dogecoin was up 1.7% at $0.093. The overall rise has pushed the total cryptocurrency market capitalization back above $2.5 trillion.
The catalyst was an Axios report that the United States, Iran and a group of regional mediators were discussing the terms of a potential 45-day ceasefire that could permanently end the six-week conflict.
Reports of more ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz provided relief even as Trump issued increasingly aggressive threats starting Tuesday to destroy Iran’s power plants.
Clearing data tells a story about how the market is positioned over the weekend.
Of the total 24-hour liquidation of $273.8 million among 81,819 traders, shorts accounted for $196.7 million and longs accounted for $77.1 million, a ratio of nearly 3 to 1, indicating that traders are preparing for further losses after last week’s emotional collapse. The largest single liquidation was Binance’s $10.17 million ETH-USDT short position.
Bitcoin’s 24-hour range extended from $66,634 to $69,350, with the $2,700 move hitting the worst days for short positions.
It comes after data released by Santiment over the weekend showed social media sentiment had reached its most pessimistic level since the war began, with five negative posts for every four positive posts. As is often the case in the cryptocurrency space, the most pessimistic sentiment readings of the cycle produce the sharpest rallies.
The move reclaimed the top of Bitcoin’s five-week range but did not break above it. The $65,000 to $73,000 channel that has contained every rise and selloff since the conflict began remains intact.
Resistance levels are at $71,500 and $81,200, corresponding to the lower track and Trader Chain realized price indicators tracked in the CoinDesk report, which would be the next meaningful test if ceasefire momentum holds.
Whether this rally has more substance than the previous three rallies depends entirely on whether a 45-day ceasefire can be achieved or whether it becomes another headline that is withdrawn within 48 hours.
