Bitcoin rose above $64,600 after US President Donald Trump said Washington was not negotiating with Iran, while uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz helped keep oil prices above $91 a barrel.
In a post on Truth Social on 18 August, Mr Trump said there were no discussions between the United States and Iran and that no negotiations had been arranged. His comments contradicted recent reports that diplomatic contacts might lead to another temporary agreement.
“The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating,” Trump wrote.
He also claimed that all water mines in the strait had either been removed or detonated. Iran rejected that account. Its chief negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said Tehran would keep the waterway closed until the US fulfilled the conditions set out in a June interim agreement, according to Reuters.
Those conditions include ending the US blockade of Iranian ports, lifting oil sanctions, unfreezing Iranian assets and stopping US military threats and operations, Mr Qalibaf said.
The memorandum, signed on 17 June, created a 60-day period for talks aimed at reaching a wider agreement covering Iran’s nuclear programme. That negotiating period has now ended without being extended.
Mr Trump’s claim that the Strait of Hormuz is operating normally is at odds with shipping data and statements from Iranian officials. Some vessels are still using the route, but Reuters reported that traffic remained limited and that a ship had recently been hit by an unidentified projectile.
Data cited by Fox News recorded 28 confirmed crossings between Friday and Sunday. Before the war began in February, the strait handled an average of about 130 ships a day.
Iranian officials have said restrictions on passage will remain in place until Washington honours the June agreement. Mr Trump said on 17 August that Iran wanted a deal, but would not accept the terms he believed were required.
The dispute came after an earlier Truth Social post in which Mr Trump shared a map describing the strait as “New U.S. Territory”. Iran rejected the territorial claim, while the US president maintained that American naval forces controlled the passage.
US and Israeli forces began attacking Iran in late February, triggering a conflict that is nearing its sixth month. Reuters reported that Tehran adopted what one senior official called a “fully offensive” position on 17 August after diplomatic efforts failed to secure another agreement. No new major Iranian attack had been reported immediately after the statement.
The Strait of Hormuz carried about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies before the conflict. Any prolonged disruption could therefore affect crude availability, shipping expenses and the energy bills paid by US households and businesses.
Bitcoin was trading at $64,611 at the time of writing, up about 0.6% from its previous close. It moved between an intraday low of $64,005 and a high of $64,926, leaving the closely watched $65,000 threshold within reach.
The cryptocurrency gained despite oil prices rising for a third successive session. Brent crude increased by 0.7% to $91.46 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate rose 0.9% to $85.25, Reuters reported.
Bitcoin had come under pressure earlier in August when attacks on tankers near Hormuz pushed energy prices higher and increased demand for the US dollar. It fell as low as $62,466 on 31 July after failing to remain above $65,000. Its four-hour chart identified the $62,000-$63,000 range as an important area for the market’s next move.
The latest recovery has taken Bitcoin back towards the same resistance level. However, it has not yet recorded a sustained move above $65,000, with Tuesday’s high stopping at $64,926.
Oil prices are particularly significant for US investors because higher fuel and transport costs can contribute to rising inflation. Federal Reserve officials take inflation into account when setting interest rates, while higher borrowing costs can reduce demand for assets including Bitcoin and technology shares.
US equity markets also came under pressure on Tuesday. The Nasdaq Composite fell by about 1.4%, the S&P 500 declined 0.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.1%, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The 10-year US Treasury yield reached 4.72%, while the 30-year yield climbed to 5.33% – its highest level since 2007, the publication reported.
Bitcoin also benefited from the absence of another sale by Strategy, the largest publicly traded corporate holder of the cryptocurrency.
A filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 17 August showed that Strategy neither bought nor sold Bitcoin between 10 and 16 August. Its holdings remained at 840,447 BTC, purchased for a combined $63.36bn at an average price of $75,385 per coin.
The company raised $333.7m by selling 3.46 million common shares during that week, according to crypto.news, but did not use the proceeds to purchase additional Bitcoin.
The filing brought an end to two consecutive weeks in which Strategy had sold BTC. During the preceding week, it sold 1,690 BTC for about $108.6m, following a sale of roughly $105m the week before.
Strategy trades on the Nasdaq under the MSTR ticker, meaning its Bitcoin decisions can affect US shareholders who use the company’s stock as an indirect way of gaining exposure to cryptocurrency. The latest filing also showed that the company’s average purchase price remained above Bitcoin’s current market value.
Strategy said its recent financing activity had been used to build its US dollar reserves and buy back preferred shares. Its 17 August filing recorded the purchase of approximately $132.2m of STRC preferred stock during the week.
The White House’s digital-asset policy timetable has provided another focus for Bitcoin traders.
A meeting scheduled for 19 August is expected to involve representatives from Coinbase, Ripple, a16z, Chainlink, Paradigm, Kalshi and the Digital Chamber. SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig are also expected to attend, according to people familiar with the plans.
The White House had not released a formal agenda or confirmed the final list of participants when the report was published. Mr Trump’s attendance had also not been formally announced, although Semafor reported that he was expected to take part.
The meeting is due to take place as the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act remains stalled in the Senate. The proposed legislation would divide federal responsibility for digital assets between the SEC and CFTC. Qualifying spot markets for digital commodities would fall under the CFTC, while crypto securities would remain under the SEC.
The House passed its version of the bill in July 2025 by 294 votes to 134. Progress in the Senate has slowed because of disagreements over government ethics, decentralised finance, rewards linked to stablecoins and safeguards against financial crime.
Polymarket traders gave the bill roughly a 20% chance of becoming law in 2026 on 17 August. That was down from more than 80% earlier in the year.
Separately, Polymarket’s projected probability of at least one Federal Reserve interest-rate increase in 2026 fell to 49%, from a recent level above 60%.
Rate-rise expectations had reached 64% earlier in August after Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, warned that inflation remained too high. The Federal Reserve kept its target range at 3.50%-3.75% in July, when three officials backed a quarter-point increase.
