Bitcoin traded near $64,600 on Aug. 18 after President Trump said Washington has no talks scheduled with Iran, even as Tehran keeps the Strait of Hormuz shut. The coin also drew support from Strategy's decision to pause its Bitcoin sales after two straight weeks of disposals.
Bitcoin held above $64,600 on Aug. 18 after Trump said in a Truth Social post that the United States and Iran are not holding talks and have no negotiations scheduled, as the conflict approaches its sixth month. Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said Tehran would keep the Strait of Hormuz closed until Washington meets conditions from a June interim agreement, according to Reuters.
Trump and Iran clash over the Strait of Hormuz
Trump wrote: "The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect." He also said the Hormuz Strait is open and that all water mines there had been removed or detonated. Iran disputed that account. Qalibaf's conditions include lifting the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, removing oil sanctions, releasing frozen Iranian assets, and ending U.S. military threats and operations, under a memorandum signed June 17 that set a 60-day negotiating window. That window has now expired without an extension.
Bitcoin recovers as oil stays above $91
Bitcoin traded at $64,611 at the time of writing, up about 0.6% from its previous close, after moving between an intraday low of $64,005 and a high of $64,926. The advance came as Brent crude rose 0.7% to $91.46 per barrel and WTI gained 0.9% to $85.25 for a third straight session. Higher fuel and transport costs can feed into inflation data, which the Federal Reserve weighs when setting interest rates.
U.S. equities stayed under pressure Tuesday: the Nasdaq Composite fell about 1.4%, the S&P 500 lost 0.6%, and the Dow slipped 0.1%, according to The Wall Street Journal. The 10-year Treasury yield reached 4.72%, while the 30-year yield climbed to 5.33%, its highest level since 2007.
Strategy pauses its Bitcoin sales
Bitcoin also found support after Strategy, the largest publicly traded corporate holder of the asset, made no purchases or sales between Aug. 10 and Aug. 16, according to an SEC filing. Its holdings remained unchanged at 840,447 BTC, acquired for an aggregate $63.36 billion at an average price of $75,385 per coin. The pause ended two consecutive weeks of disposals, during which Strategy sold 1,690 BTC for about $108.6 million and roughly $105 million of Bitcoin the week before that.
White House meeting puts crypto rules back in focus
A White House meeting scheduled for Aug. 19 is expected to include representatives from Coinbase, Ripple, a16z, Chainlink, Paradigm, Kalshi and the Digital Chamber, along with SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig. The gathering comes as the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act remains stalled in the Senate after passing the House in July 2025 by a 294-134 vote. Polymarket traders placed the bill's chance of becoming law in 2026 at about 20% on Aug. 17, down from more than 80% earlier in the year. Separately, the platform's odds of a rate hike in 2026 fell to 49% from above 60%.
Source: crypto.news
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