Investing.com — inched lower on Monday, extending weekend losses as surging global bond yields and rising oil prices linked to escalating Iran tensions weakened appetite for riskier assets.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency last Thursday received a shot in the arm after a U.S. Senate committee advanced key legislation, surpassing the $82,000 level, but it has since continued to pull back.
Bitcoin was last down 1.7% to $77,075.9 by 17:35 ET (21:35 GMT).
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Senate Banking Committee clears Clarity Act
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee voted in a 15-9 decision to advance the Clarity Act, setting up the legislation for a vote before the full Senate.
The bill seeks to establish a sweeping regulatory framework for the U.S. crypto industry – a move long sought by proponents of the industry. But the bill is still expected to face stiff opposition, especially from the banking lobby, which has repeatedly called for more curbs on yield payments on stablecoins. Some unions and law enforcement agencies have also argued that the bill could hurt consumers and financial institutions.
However, the enthusiasm from the Senate development quickly petered out as attention turned to a steep global bond sell-off. The rout in the fixed-income markets picked up steam last week and came to a head on Friday, leading to soaring yields across the world and the achievement of several “highest ever” milestones by benchmark instruments.
“Bitcoin has rolled over from $82,200 to near $77,000 in the week since the CLARITY Act vote, as the regulatory catalyst gave way to macro tightening as the dominant driver,” Dessislava Ianeva, analyst at Nexo Dispatch, said.
The bond carnage was driven by a host of inflation data last week on major economies, including the U.S. The readings showed that surging oil prices due to the Iran war and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz were having a big impact on consumer and producer prices. Markets responded by raising their expectations for interest rate hikes by global central banks. Higher rates generally bode poorly for speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies.
The bleeding in the bond market eased up on Monday, with the benchmark and the longer-end dropping slightly to end at 4.590% and 5.124%, respectively.
U.S. military attack on Iran called off
Turning to the Middle East conflict, President Donald Trump on Truth Social said he had ordered the U.S. military to not go ahead with a scheduled attack on Iran on Tuesday after being requested by leaders from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Trump said “serious negotiations” were “now taking place” and that the leaders believed a peace deal would be made which would be “very acceptable ” to all parties.
“This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!” Trump said, adding that he had also instructed the U.S. military “to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.”
Trump’s comments came after fresh tensions over the weekend, following a drone strike that hit a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia separately said it had intercepted three drones from Iraq, which in turn said it was investigating the incident.
Media reports also said the U.S. and Iran had exchanged amended proposals to try and end hostilities, but rejected the new drafts.
The two parties remain at odds over several points. Washington wants Tehran to end its nuclear ambitions, hand over all enriched uranium, and reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz. Iran, for its part, wants an end to fighting on all fronts, compensation for war damages, and an end to the U.S. naval blockade of its ports and coastline. Iran is also at odds with the demand to end its nuclear activities, one of the biggest sticking points between the warring nations.
Saylor’s snaps up another $2 billion in Bitcoin
Elsewhere, Strategy, the Bitcoin treasury company formerly known as MicroStrategy, said Monday it added roughly 24,869 bitcoin to its holdings over the past week, spending approximately $2.01 billion at an average price of about $80,985 per coin.
The purchase, disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, covers the period between May 11 and May 17 and brings total Bitcoin held by the company led by Michael Saylor to around 843,738 coins, valued at roughly $65 billion at current prices.
Crypto price today: altcoins retreat amid broader risk-off mood
Most altcoins also fell on Monday, tracking the global risk-off mood.
World no.2 crypto lost nearly 3% to $2,135.47.
World no. 3 crypto shed 2.2% to $1.3922.
and slipped 1.7% and 1.3%, respectively.
Among meme tokens, tumbled almost 6%.
Ayushman Ojha and Vahid Karaahmetovic contributed to this article