Bitcoin Drops Below $80K as Iran Rejects Trump Deal and Traders Dump $91M in Longs

The Iran Peace Deal Factor

On May 7, bitcoin reversed course, dipping below $80,000 to effectively erase gains made since Monday. As shown by the daily chart, the top cryptocurrency—which reached a multi-month high of $82,833 some 24 hours earlier—had been under pressure from bears since Wednesday afternoon.

After losing $1,000 during a slow descent from midday to midnight, bitcoin found temporary support at $80,700. While a pre-dawn rally lifted the price to $81,600, the momentum proved unsustainable. The subsequent sell-off was more aggressive, forcing the asset down to a $79,500 intraday low. As of 1 p.m. EDT, bitcoin has reclaimed some ground, currently hovering just below the $80,000 mark.

Bitcoin’s nearly 2% drop dragged its market capitalization below the $1.6 trillion mark, a marked decline from the approximately $1.66 trillion intraday peak reached on Wednesday. The drop helped pull the crypto economy’s market cap to $2.74 trillion, down from just over $2.8 trillion.

The cryptocurrency market’s retreat, which mirrored Wall Street’s, coincided with reports that Iran had rejected the Trump administration’s proposal to end the war. According to a post on X by Walter Bloomberg, a senior Iranian official, Mohsen Rezaei, said Tehran rejected the proposal—which calls on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz—because it does not include reparations for war damage.

Iran’s rejection of the U.S. proposal neutralized the optimism sparked by earlier Axios reports that a deal was imminent. Concerns are mounting that a prolonged diplomatic stalemate will embolden Washington hawks, potentially sidelining proponents of diplomacy and nudging President Trump toward a direct military confrontation.

Despite the plunge, bitcoin was at the time of writing still up nearly 5% since the beginning of the month and more than 15% over a 30-day period. Meanwhile, bitcoin’s volatility over the 24-hour period saw $91 million in overleveraged long positions wiped out, compared with $12 million in shorts. Overall, the crypto economy saw nearly $270 million in long bets liquidated versus $90 million in shorts.