Peace Talks Pump Crypto: $100B Inflows Send Bitcoin Toward $70K as Shorts Get Absolutely Demolished

The crypto market pulled a Lazarus this week, crawling out of the grave after a massive surge of capital inflows breathed life back into the corpse of sentiment. As of press time, total crypto market cap had climbed to $2.37 trillion, up from $2.27 trillion over the past 24 hours — a tidy $100 billion increase that had degens dusting off their deleted trading apps.

Leading assets posted solid gains, with Bitcoin rising 3.32% to trade around $69,090 while maintaining a dominant market cap of approximately $1.4 trillion. Ethereum decided to actually cook for once, outperforming among large-cap assets and climbing 4.75% to about $2,134. Among other major cryptocurrencies, XRP advanced 3.61% to $1.34, while BNB posted a 2.20% gain to trade near $603 — because when the tide rises, even the sea urchins float.

Bitcoin ended the weekend with nearly three profitable transactions for every one at a loss — a 2.95:1 ratio, the highest level in 12 weeks. According to on-chain data from Santiment, such spikes in realized gains have historically preceded short-term pullbacks as investors take profits. Classic "sell the news" energy, because apparently diamond hands are just hands that haven't found the right panic button yet.

The broader bullish move was primarily driven by reports of ongoing discussions between the U.S., Iran, and regional mediators over a potential 45-day ceasefire, raising hopes of de-escalation and easing geopolitical pressure on risk assets. Optimism was further bolstered by anticipation of President Donald Trump's scheduled press conference, which lifted sentiment across equities and crypto markets. Lower oil price pressure and improving macro sentiment spilled over into cryptocurrency, triggering a relief rally that was further amplified by a wave of short liquidations. Nothing says "peace in our time" like a good old-fashioned liquidity cleansing.

The rebound sparked a classic short squeeze, with short liquidations significantly outpacing longs as bearish positions were forced to cover at whatever price the market deemed appropriate. Momentum was further boosted by traders returning from the Easter break, helping push Bitcoin to its highest level in over a week. Nothing like a long weekend and geopolitical optimism to remind bears that leverage is a finite resource.

Across crypto markets, $273.8 million in positions were liquidated over 24 hours, impacting more than 81,800 traders. Shorts took the largest hit, with $196.7 million wiped out compared to $77.1 million in longs — a near 3:1 imbalance that would make any trading textbook weep. The largest single liquidation was a $10.17 million ETH-USDT short on Binance. Someone's breakfast is now regret.

This imbalance left the market vulnerable to volatility after Bitcoin hit a weekend low near $66,600. Analysts noted the crypto market had been in an oversold condition amid prolonged uncertainty from the US-Iran conflict, which had earlier driven oil prices higher and created risk-off pressure. Overall, the ceasefire developments provided a timely catalyst for a technical rebound, with Bitcoin now targeting the $70,000 spot. The magic number awaits — let's see if BTC can actually stick the landing this time.