Bitcoin (BTC) Price: Surge to $78K Reversed After Iran Closes Strait of Hormuz Again

TLDR

• Bitcoin surged to $78,000 after Iran briefly reopened the Strait of Hormuz, then fell back to $76,000 when the strait closed again within 24 hours.
• The rally triggered $762 million in crypto liquidations, with $593 million wiping out short positions.
• Spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in nearly $1 billion in weekly inflows — their best week since January.
• Morgan Stanley launched a Bitcoin Trust fund, which already holds $120 million in assets after just six trading days.
• Ether, XRP, BNB, and Solana all posted weekly gains despite the weekend pullback.

Bitcoin had a wild week driven by geopolitical headlines out of the Middle East. The price swung sharply in both directions as news around the Strait of Hormuz changed fast.

On Friday, Iran’s foreign minister announced the Strait of Hormuz was reopened to commercial shipping for the duration of a ceasefire. U.S. President Donald Trump backed the claim, saying Iran had agreed to an “unlimited” suspension of its nuclear program.

Bitcoin jumped above $78,000 on the news. Oil markets moved the other way, with Brent crude falling nearly 10% to around $85 per barrel.

The breakout triggered one of the biggest short squeezes of 2026. Data from CoinGlass shows $762 million in total liquidations across 168,336 traders. Short positions made up $593 million of that, with bitcoin shorts alone accounting for $381 million.

Funding rates on bitcoin perpetuals had been negative for weeks, meaning shorts were paying a premium to hold their positions. The Hormuz headline was the spark that flipped that setup.

ETF Inflows Hit Three-Month High

While the price action grabbed headlines, Bitcoin ETFs quietly had their strongest week since January. Data from SoSoValue shows spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $996 million in net inflows last week.

Friday alone brought in $663.9 million, the biggest single-day total of the week. Total net assets across all spot Bitcoin ETFs climbed above $101 billion, with daily trading volumes near $4.8 billion.

Ethereum ETFs also saw action, pulling in close to $276 million for the week, according to Farside Investors.

Morgan Stanley’s newly launched Bitcoin Trust added to the momentum. The fund already manages $120 million in assets after just six trading days, overtaking WisdomTree in that time.

Iran Reversal Pulls Bitcoin Back Down

Less than 24 hours after the Hormuz reopening, Iran reversed course. State news agency Nour said the strait had returned to “strict management and control by the armed forces,” citing a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

Two tanker owners told Bloomberg their vessels received Iranian radio transmissions ordering them to stop transit. One supertanker reported gunfire and turned back.

Bitcoin dropped to $76,091 by Saturday evening in Asia, up just 0.8% on the day. Ethereum fell 3% to around $2,365, while Solana dropped 1.3% and Dogecoin fell 2.1%.

On a weekly basis, XRP led all major tokens with a 6.4% gain. BNB added 4.6%, Ether rose 5.2%, and Bitcoin held a 4.7% weekly gain despite the weekend dip.

Analysts at Bitunix noted that Bitcoin was trading in a defined range, with resistance above $75,000 and support near $72,000 as of their latest update.

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