Bitcoin falls back to $76,000 as Iran shuts Hormuz again
One of the biggest short liquidations 2026 wiped $593 million in bearish bets overnight. Saturday afternoon as Iran reportedly reversed the Hormuz reopening.
What to know:
- Bitcoin surged above $78,000 in a sharp short squeeze after Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz fully open and Donald Trump claimed Tehran agreed to an unlimited suspension of its nuclear program.
- The rally triggered about $762 million in crypto liquidations, mostly from short positions, with bitcoin accounting for roughly $382 million and ether $167 million, as funding rates had been negative for weeks.
- Traders are watching the $76,000 to $78,000 zone as a key resistance area whose sustained break could clear a path toward bitcoin’s $94,000 yearly open and $126,000 record high, while other major tokens also logged solid weekly gains.
By Saturday evening hours in Asia, bitcoin had pulled back to $76,091, up just 0.8% on the day, as Iran broadcast that the Strait of Hormuz was closed to maritime traffic again less than 24 hours after its foreign minister declared it fully open.
Two tanker owners told Bloomberg their vessels received Iranian radio transmissions shutting the waterway, with one supertanker reporting gunfire and aborting transit.
State news agency Nour said Hormuz had returned to “strict management and control by the armed forces” in response to a U.S. blockade of Iranian shipping. Several oil tankers that had raced toward the strait Friday on the initial reopening news turned back.
Friday’s breakout rally ended up in a $590 million shorts rout, with bets on bitcoin accounting for $381 million in liquidations, the largest share, followed by ether shorts at $167. Shorts outweighed longs by nearly four to one, the cleanest short-heavy breakdown in a liquidation event since February.
