Bitcoin has recovered above $75,000 following the announcement of a 60-day extension to the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, marking a significant turnaround from the earlier six-week low of $72,885. According to crypto.news, Bitcoin jumped above $72,000, gaining nearly 5 percent over 24 hours after the initial ceasefire announcement in early April, with some forecasts projecting a move toward $80,000 by the end of May if current momentum holds. Ethereum climbed about 6 percent to $2,257 following the initial ceasefire announcement, as traders priced out immediate war risk. The recovery comes after Bitcoin fell 3.5% to $72,885 during Asian trading hours, marking its weakest level since mid-April and representing a significant decline from the previous $74,500 trading level. More than $230 million in leveraged Bitcoin long positions were liquidated in just 60 minutes, highlighting the rapid nature of the earlier selloff.
The S&P 500 pushed to a fresh all-time high near 7,400 after Washington and Tehran agreed to extend their ceasefire by roughly 60 days, reinforcing a broad risk-on bid across equities and crypto markets. On April 22, President Donald Trump confirmed that Washington would prolong the truce while Tehran's leadership finalizes a unified proposal for broader de-escalation, building on a Pakistan-brokered agreement first reached on April 8. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Trump announced an extension to allow Iranian leaders to reach a 'unified proposal' in talks. A report from the Financial Times cited in a Vietnamese television segment said intermediaries believe the United States and Iran are 'moving closer to an agreement' that would extend the ceasefire by 60 days and set a framework for renewed negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program and sanctions relief. The S&P 500 notched an all-time closing high at 7,230.12 on May 1, and has since pushed toward 7,400, marking six straight weekly gains.
The new equity peak has unfolded alongside renewed strength in major cryptocurrencies, reinforcing the tight correlation between Bitcoin and U.S. stocks documented in recent months. As reported by crypto.news, with the S&P 500 at a record 7,400, Bitcoin and other large cap tokens have been trading as 'high beta extensions of U.S. equities rather than as independent hedges,' with BTC S&P correlations climbing toward 0.7 to 0.9. The OTHERS/BTC index continues showing signs of stabilization after more than two years of persistent underperformance against BTC, according to latest market analysis. Technically, the structure remains weak on a macro basis, but momentum deterioration appears to be slowing. The ratio is still trading below the 50-week, 100-week, and 200-week moving averages, confirming that Bitcoin dominance over smaller-cap altcoins remains structurally intact. However, the chart shows that the aggressive decline that defined most of 2024 and early 2025 has transitioned into a prolonged sideways consolidation phase near the 0.12 region.
The broader AI-driven melt-up remains intact, with momentum now behaving with renewed strength after earlier hesitation. The Nasdaq 100 is now flirting with a classic shooting star candle after an aggressive vertical climb, representing exhaustion signals that were respected during the earlier phase. The semiconductor complex is flashing similar warnings, with SOX reversing almost perfectly from the upper end of its trend channel and printing its largest downside candle in quite some time. Gold continues slowly unwinding the extreme optimism built during the 2025 and early 2026 panic-up phase, with every breakout attempt failing at the shorter-term downtrend line while speculative positioning steadily reduces. The current setup increasingly resembles the inverse psychological mirror image of the late-March reversal, when upside momentum finally ran out of oxygen, with the market transitioning from clean momentum expansion toward a more fragile and volatility-sensitive regime.
The Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditure Index (PCE), rose to 3.8% year over year in April, according to the first inflation report released under Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh. This represents the highest level in nearly three years, up from 2.8% in February. As reported by Fitch Ratings, core inflation is moving the wrong way too, with price pressures likely to persist over the next few months. Olu Sonola, head of US economics at Fitch Ratings, noted that the inflation picture is becoming increasingly uncomfortable for the Fed. Markets now expect the Federal Reserve to delay rate cuts due to rising inflation concerns and geopolitical uncertainties, with the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict potentially reigniting inflationary pressures that could force the Fed to maintain higher interest rates for longer.
