Bitcoin Turbulent After Unverified Report — 2nd Update
By Joseph Wilkins and Kirk Maltais
Bitcoin turned higher Tuesday after starting the day lower, but has since largely retreated after an unverified report surfaced stating that mediators have presented a new proposal to the U.S. and Iran.
The flagship cryptocurrency is up 0.7% to $82,506, perking back up after the stock market opened in New York at 9:30 a.m. ET. Bitcoin had risen to as high as $83,250, but since quickly gave back a lot of those gains.
Driving markets up is an unverified report from Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that mediators had presented a proposal to revive peace talks between the U.S. and Iran. Oil prices turned lower on the news, with Brent crude now down 1.6% after the headline hit.
Before then, bitcoin was weighed down on fears of interest rate increases and concerns around artificial-intelligence spending ripple through equity markets, with bitcoin caught up in the broader selloff.
Cryptocurrency investors remain on edge as metrics show that new buyers of bitcoin remain in short supply. Last week saw bitcoin ETFs track net outflows of $228.4 million, according to data from CoinGlass.
"Renewed buying has helped stabilize market sentiment, but the foundations of the recovery remain fragile as interest rate pressures persist and investment flows have yet to improve meaningfully," Linh Tran, market analyst at multi-asset broker XS.com, wrote in a note.
Write to Joseph Wilkins at joseph.wilkins@wsj.com and Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 20, 2026 11:45 ET (15:45 GMT)
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