Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies fell approximately 2% late Saturday evening U.S. time following a breakdown in diplomatic negotiations between the United States and Iran. The decline came after U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance announced that negotiators had failed to agree on an extended ceasefire, dashing hopes for a swift resolution to the nearly six-week-long U.S. campaign against Iran.
The parties met in Pakistan on Saturday in an attempt to broker an agreement. In a subsequent press conference, Vance stated, "We've made very clear what our red lines are, what things we are willing to accommodate them on and what we're not willing to accommodate them on, and we've made that as clear as we possibly could." He confirmed that the U.S. had "not reached an agreement" with Iran.
Key sticking points included the U.S. insistence that Iran would "not seek a nuclear weapon and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon," Vance elaborated. The immediate market reaction was pronounced. At press time, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $71,600, down from approximately $72,750. Ether (ETH) fell to about $2,200, while XRP slid to $1.33. The broader CoinDesk 20 index mirrored the decline, dropping to 1,188.52.
