Morning Minute: Bitcoin Hits 11-Week High as Trump Extends Iran Ceasefire

Bitcoin climbed above $78,000 Wednesday morning, its highest level in 11 weeks, after President Trump announced he would extend the Iran ceasefire indefinitely, reversing his earlier statement that it would expire Wednesday.

Trump cited Tehran’s government as “seriously fractured,” and said the extension would remain in place until Iran’s leadership submits a “unified proposal” to end the war. The announcement came after Iran refused to send negotiators to a second round of talks in Islamabad and reports surfaced that Vice President Vance’s planned trip to Pakistan had been put on hold.

Markets reacted quickly. BTC was up roughly 2.2% over 24 hours and 5% on the week by Wednesday morning, with short sellers caught on the wrong side - approximately $240 million in leveraged shorts were liquidated. ETH was up 3% to $2,390 on a solid day of ETF inflows ($43M). Stock futures are opening green as well.

On-chain signals are turning constructive for the first time in months. Bitcoin’s Net Unrealized Profit/Loss metric turned positive for the first time since early January, which analysts read as confirmation the bearish trend has ended. And whales are apparently accumulating at the fastest pace since July 2025.

Kevin Warsh appeared before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday for his confirmation hearing as Trump’s nominee to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair. The hearing covered his relationship with Trump on interest rates, his broader monetary policy views, and his financial disclosures.

On rates, Warsh said Trump “never asked me to predetermine, commit, fix, decide on any interest rate decision in any of our discussions, nor would I ever agree to do so.” He pushed back on suggestions he would simply cut rates on demand, calling himself an “independent actor.”

Coinbase’s Independent Advisory Board published a quantum risk report Tuesday. Proof-of-stake chains like Ethereum and Solana use cryptographic signatures to secure consensus. A sufficiently powerful quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm could break those signature schemes. Coinbase’s board noted that the challenge for proof-of-stake isn’t just upgrading wallets; parts of the core consensus mechanism itself may need to be redesigned.

Kalshi announced on Tuesday that it’s planning to launch perpetual futures across crypto and other assets. By afternoon, Polymarket announced the same. Kalshi’s launch is codenamed “Timeless,” goes live April 27 in New York, and starts with BTC perpetuals using USD as collateral.

Greek maritime risk firm MARISKS warned Monday that unknown actors posing as Iranian authorities have been contacting shipping companies stranded west of the Strait of Hormuz, demanding Bitcoin or USDT in exchange for “transit clearance.” The scam mirrors a real policy that Iran proposed back in March, that they’d charge BTC/USDT transit tolls.