Crypto prices surged on Monday after U.S. President Trump said the nation would pattacks against Iran.
Trump said in a Truth Social post that the two countries held “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.”
Attacks against Iran’s infrastructure will be postponed for a five day period, Trump said in the post.
Bitcoin rebounded almost 5% above $71,000 in the early morning U.S. hours on the news after sinking below $68,000 overnight. Ether (ETH), , solana (SOL and Chainlink were up 5% over the past 24 hours as cryptocurrencies jumped across the board.
Gold has nearly erased almost all its earlier losses, now down just 1% on the day and rebounding to $4,440 per ounce. The U.S. dollar index, DXY, has slipped to 99.3.
Bond yields have declined globally, with the U.S. 10 year yield falling by 100 basis points to 4.3%.
Meanwhile, WTI crude is down 11% on the day, trading below $88 per barrel, while Brent crude has dropped 8% to around $100 per barrel. Tokenized Brent crude futures saw $62.4 million in liquidations on Hyperliquid. C
CoinGlass data shows $62.41 million in liquidations on the XYZ:BRENTOIL contract over the past 24 hours, with $61.69 million of that hitting longs and just $717,000 from shorts.
Galaxy Digital (GLXY) is up 2%, while Coinbase (COIN) and IREN (IREN) have also gained around 2% each.
Trump’s five-day postponement doesn’t end the war, however, as Iran continues to strike targets across the Gulf.
Meanwhile, Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, is up more than 3% in pre-market trading.
Despite the knee-jerk risk-on reaction in markets and the drop in oil prices, options tied to bitcoin continue to reflect a defensive bias.
As of writing, put options on Deribit continue to trade at an 8–10 volatility point premium to calls through the June-end expiry, largely unchanged from earlier in the day, according to data source Amberdata. The same is true for ether options.
This suggests traders remain cautious, viewing the latest bounce with skepticism and bracing for potential aftershocks from the recent oil spike on broader markets and the global economy.
CORRECT (March 23, 11:30 UTC): Corrects first paragraph to say attacks will be postponed. An earlier version of this story said they would be escalated.