Bitcoin pares gains, holds above $71k as Iran ceasefire boosts risk appetite

Investing.com -- Bitcoin pared some gains on Wednesday, but remained solidly higher amid a massive rally in risk assets following a two-week ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran.  

Progress towards regulatory clarity on stablecoin yield payments in the U.S. also aided crypto markets, although the passage of a formal bill still appeared distant. 

The world’s largest cryptocurrency was last up 2.4% to $71,589.3 by 17:51 ET (21:51 GMT). 

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More talks scheduled in Pakistan amid ceasefire violation accusations  

President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening said he would hold off on attacking Iran’s energy and civilian infrastructure for two weeks and that all warring parties would observe a ceasefire in that period. 

Trump’s move came just hours ahead of a 20:00 ET deadline he had imposed upon Iran to meet his demands, including reopening the critical Strait of Hormuz. 

The White House said a U.S. negotiating team led by Vice President JD Vance, Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, and American businessman Jared Kushner will travel to Islamabad in Pakistan this weekend for further diplomatic talks.

Iran later accused Israel of violating the ceasefire by carrying out strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The speaker of Iran’s parliament said three key clauses in its 10 point proposal had been violated even before negotiations had started: non-compliance with ceasefire in Lebanon, the entry of an "intruding drone" into Iranian airspace, and the denial of Tehran’s right to uranium enrichment.

Vance told reporters that the "Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t." 

The crypto market received a shot in the arm earlier this week after spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded $471 million in inflows on Monday, the largest single-day total since just before the start of the war at the end of February. 

"Network activity is starting to improve with older holders gradually exiting without enough new demand. Due to this, many expect strong ETF inflows to be enough to push the price (of Bitcoin) beyond the $63,000-$75,000 range," Gracy Chen, CEO at crypto exchange Bitget, said.

"ETFs are now supporting the lower part of the range and are absorbing supply. They give Bitcoin stability, but are not strong enough to act as a real trigger for a new uptrend. As a result, we think the market could continue fluctuating inside this channel for some time. With the U.S.-Iran two-week ceasefire now in place, sentiment has shifted toward fragile de-escalation," Chen added.

FDIC proposes to govern stablecoin issuers as Clarity act debate carries on

Elsewhere, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp this week formally proposed its approach to stablecoin issuers, which will entail regulation of major issuers as outlined under the GENIUS act. 

Stablecoin issuers will not hold the same deposit insurance kept by traditional banking accounts under the FDIC, the proposal said. 

The FDIC proposal is the latest step by U.S. policymakers to establish a clear regulatory framework for stablecoins and yields paid on the asset class. The Clarity act, which will establish this framework, is still being debated by Congress after months of delays.

A major point of contention is the treatment of stablecoin yields, with major banks arguing that stablecoin issuers need to face as strict regulatory requirements as those for traditional banking accounts. 

Crypto industry proponents, however, have largely rebuked this notion. 

Crypto price today: altcoins track Bitcoin higher 

Broader crypto prices tracked gains in Bitcoin, with world no.2 crypto Ether adding 3.3% to $2,215.81.

XRP, Solana, and Cardano had pared a chunk of their gains and were last up 1.2%, 0.6%, and 0.4%, respectively.  

Among memecoins, Dogecoin climbed 0.9%, while $TRUMP increased 1.4%. 

Ambar Warrick and Vahid Karaahmetovic contributed to this article