Investing.com — was slightly higher on Wednesday, giving up earlier gains but remaining largely above the flat line as risk assets continued to get a boost from Middle East de-escalation hopes. President Donald Trump said the new Iranian regime had asked for a ceasefire.
The world’s largest crypto in the previous session ended March with a nearly 2% gain, snapping a five-month losing streak underscored by heavy losses.
Bitcoin rose 0.3% to $68,478.6 by 17:26 ET (21:26 GMT).
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Trump suggests impending end to war, says Iran asked for ceasefire
Trump on Wednesday said on his Truth Social service that “Iran’s New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!”
“We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!” the president added.
If confirmed by Iran, this would mark another significant step towards de-escalation, even with uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz. The critical waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply flows has been effectively shuttered by Iran since the start of the conflict, leading to surging oil prices across the globe.
The ceasefire comment came after Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. intended to cease military operations against Iran in the next two to three weeks. The president claimed that the U.S. had achieved its goals in Iran, specifically denting the country’s nuclear ambitions, and that Washington had also caused regime change in Tehran.
Trump also said it was not necessary for Tehran to accept a deal to end the war. But this left markets uncertain over whether the Strait of Hormuz will reopen.
Reports earlier this week, along with comments from Trump, suggested that the U.S. will not attempt to reopen the strait, instead leaving it to its European and Gulf allies.
Energy-driven inflation, stemming from the Iran conflict, was a major point of concern for markets through March, amid concerns that major global central banks will turn policy hawkish.
Such a scenario bodes poorly for speculative assets like crypto.
Google paper flags crypto vulnerability from quantum computing
Elsewhere, Google researchers said in a recent white paper that crypto could be more vulnerable to breakthroughs in quantum computing than initially thought.
They said quantum computing may break elliptic curve cryptography, a type of cryptography that Bitcoin is based on.
Google quantum researchers demonstrated that breaking the elliptic curve may take less than 500,000 physical qubits on a superconducting quantum computer, roughly 20 times fewer qubits than initially estimated.
While the technology to run such computing does not practically exist today, Google researchers warned that such computers could exist by 2029. They also urged the crypto industry to consider transitioning blockchains to post-quantum cryptography.
The research cited contributions from Coinbase, the Stanford Institute for Blockchain Research, and the eum Foundation.
Crypto price today: altcoins rise on Iran de-escalation hopes
Broader crypto prices largely advanced on hopes of an end to the war.
World no.2 crypto Ether rose 2.7% to $2,159.79, while added 1.1% to $1.3550.
was marginally higher, while climbed 3.6%. slipped 0.4%.
Among memecoins, was up 0.8%, while fell 0.6%.
Most altcoins were nursing a flat-to-low performance in March, as the Iran war largely dented appetite for speculative assets. But the sector still fared relatively better than other risk-driven assets.
Ambar Warrick and Vahid Karaahmetovic contributed to this article