Bitcoin climbed as high as $79,214 on April 22, reaching its strongest level in 11 weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S.-Iran ceasefire would be extended indefinitely. The move eased immediate fears of renewed conflict in the Middle East and pushed risk assets higher across global markets.
Bitcoin started the day near $76,342, then surged before settling in the $78,800 to $78,900 range. The daily gain was about 4.1%, while 24-hour trading volume topped $47 billion. The jump stood out as one of the sharpest single-session advances in recent weeks and extended the rebound from this year’s low near $60,057 on Feb. 6.
Ceasefire extension boosted sentiment across equities and crypto
Trump announced the extension late on April 21, before the truce was due to expire. He cited divisions inside Iran’s leadership and said Tehran needed to present a unified peace proposal. Pakistani mediators had asked for more time. That announcement removed, at least for the moment, the immediate threat of another escalation near the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. equities rose alongside bitcoin. The S&P 500 added about 0.9% to around 7,125, close to the record levels seen earlier in the month. The Nasdaq Composite climbed roughly 1.1% to about 24,540, led by technology and AI-linked shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained around 0.8% and traded near 49,530.
Strategy and ETF demand stayed in focus
Corporate buying remained a major support. Strategy said that in the week ending April 19 it bought 34,164 BTC for about $2.54 billion, with an average purchase price of $74,395 per coin. It was the company’s third-largest weekly bitcoin purchase on record. After the buy, Strategy’s total holdings reached 815,061 BTC.
The company’s preferred equity instrument, STRC, has funded about 77,000 BTC year to date, a figure that exceeded combined net inflows across all U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs. Spot ETF flows also held up through the week. Blackrock’s IBIT and other funds posted net inflows in the hundreds of millions of dollars on selected days, including one week with about $996 million in total demand, the strongest since mid-January.
Exchange reserves fell as short liquidations added fuel
Onchain data pointed in the same direction. Bitcoin held on exchanges dropped to around 2.21 million BTC, a seven-year low, which suggested lighter near-term selling pressure. Chain analysts also said whale wallets accumulated several hundred thousand BTC over the previous 30 days.
Short liquidations in leveraged positions amplified the move higher. During recent key swings, forced liquidations on bearish positions were estimated at between $180 million and $650 million. Ethereum, XRP, and a broad mix of altcoins and meme coins also moved up with bitcoin as market appetite for risk improved.
Traders watched the $79,000 to $80,000 zone
In market structure terms, the $74,000 to $76,000 range has shifted into near-term support after the breakout. Traders were watching $79,000 to $80,000 as the next resistance area, with $85,000 to $88,000 beyond that. On the downside, the February low near $60,000 and the broader $70,000 zone remained key reference levels.
Institutional desks including JPMorgan kept bullish S&P 500 targets near 7,600 after the geopolitical relief. Bitcoin bulls were looking at $80,000 to $85,000 if momentum stayed intact. Later in the session, reports said Iran struck ships in the Strait of Hormuz, though the early market tone had already been set by the ceasefire extension.