Trump’s rejection of Iran’s deal, Korea’s halved holdings, and the Strategy’s sell policy stir markets while Bitcoin holds $80K with neutral sentiment. Today’s cryptocurrency market showed strong resilience. Bitcoin briefly reclaimed the $82K level after a short pullback and is now fluctuating within the $80,000 to $81,000 range. Market sentiment is being shaped by both geopolitical developments and macro policy expectations. According to the latest market data, U.S. President Trump announced that he will make a state visit to China from May 13 to May 15. This diplomatic development has added a degree of wait-and-see sentiment to the market. At the same time, geopolitical tensions remain unresolved. Trump rejected Iran’s peace proposal and described it as totally unacceptable, which increased concerns that tensions in the Middle East may continue for a longer period. Against this backdrop, Bitcoin’s role as a potential hedge asset has once again drawn market attention. Spot Bitcoin ETF flows remained steady, with USD 623 million in net inflows last week and six consecutive weeks of positive growth. This reflected continued confidence from institutional investors. Overall, the market is moving between key resistance and support levels. Traders are closely watching upcoming U.S. Senate votes and the progress of related regulatory legislation, as these factors may influence short-term market direction.

Crypto Markets Overview

According to the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, the current reading stands at 48 in the Neutral zone. This marks a clear improvement from last week’s Fear reading. From a trading structure perspective, liquidation pressure is concentrated around specific price zones. If Bitcoin falls below $77,245, the estimated cumulative long liquidation intensity across major CEXs could reach USD 1.182 billion. Conversely, if Bitcoin breaks above $84,637, it could trigger USD 1.09 billion in short liquidation intensity. For Ethereum, a drop below $2,228 could lead to USD 869 million in liquidation intensity, while a move above $2,444 could trigger USD 838 million in short liquidations. In sector performance, PayFi stood out with a 24-hour gain of 3.26%. Tokens such as XRP and TWT also posted notable gains, reflecting capital preference for payment-focused decentralized finance applications. In addition, the Bitcoin Kimchi premium in South Korea recently climbed as high as 1.98%, reaching its highest level since late February. This suggested a recovery in local buying demand, even though overall crypto holdings in the country have declined from the same period last year.

Source: Alternative

Key News Highlights:

Bitcoin Rallies 2.3% After Trump Rejects Iran Peace Proposal

Bitcoin saw sharp volatility on Sunday after U.S. President Trump publicly rejected Iran’s proposed peace agreement. The price quickly fell from $81,430 to $80,520 before rebounding 2.3% within a short period and briefly breaking above the $82,000 level. Trump described Iran’s proposal as totally unacceptable on social media. The main reason was Iran’s request for the United States to pay war reparations and unfreeze blocked financial assets. This firm position suggested that tensions in the Middle East may continue for longer. Following the news, crude oil prices also rose 4.6% to $98.7 per barrel. At the same time, analysts noted that Bitcoin’s strength around the $80,000 level may be related to two key U.S. Senate decisions this week. These include the confirmation vote for the Federal Reserve chair nominee and the markup review of the CLARITY Act. Market participants believe that a successful confirmation of Kevin Warsh would reduce policy uncertainty. The CLARITY Act is also viewed as one of the most important pieces of crypto legislation in recent years, as it could provide a new level of regulatory transparency for digital assets. Since geopolitical conflict escalated in late February, Bitcoin has gained 29.7%. Its performance has exceeded both the S&P 500 Index and gold, reinforcing its market position as a form of digital gold.

South Korea Crypto Holdings Halve In One Year As Investors Turn To Stocks

According to newly released statistics, the value of cryptocurrency holdings among South Korean investors has fallen by more than half over the past year. It dropped from USD 83.3 billion in January 2025 to USD 41.4 billion by the end of February 2026. This shift reflected a large-scale movement of capital into the traditional stock market. As a result, daily trading volume across the country’s five major exchanges fell sharply from USD 11.6 billion at the end of 2024 to USD 3 billion. At the same time, won deposits held on exchanges, which are often used as a measure of investor purchasing power, declined from 10.7 trillion won to 7.8 trillion won. Beyond price volatility, tighter regulation has also become a core factor behind the market contraction. South Korean regulators plan to implement revised anti-money laundering rules in August. Under the proposed rules, transactions involving overseas exchanges or private wallets that exceed 10 million won will be automatically flagged as suspicious. Local industry groups have expressed concern that such disproportionate regulations could push more users toward offshore platforms. They also estimate that the number of suspicious transaction reports could increase by more than 85 times. In addition, the South Korean government has confirmed that it will impose a 22% tax on crypto gains starting in 2027. This has further weighed on investors' willingness to participate in the market. Even so, stablecoin holdings have remained relatively resilient, showing that some investors continue to seek value preservation during weaker market conditions.

Strategy CEO Says Company Will Sell Bitcoin Only In Specific Cases

Strategy CEO Phong Le recently explained the specific conditions under which the Bitcoin treasury company may sell part of its Bitcoin holdings. In an interview, Le stated that the company would only consider selling its digital assets when it needs to pay dividends on its Series A perpetual preferred stock or when it seeks to defer or offset tax expenses. The preferred stock currently provides holders with an 11.5% dividend. Le emphasized that any sale must be accretive to shareholders, meaning it should ultimately improve the company’s Bitcoin-per-share metric. Earlier, company co-founder Michael Saylor said that the company may periodically sell some Bitcoin to fund dividend payments. His comments briefly raised market concerns about potential selling pressure. Mr. Le later clarified that Bitcoin’s current daily trading volume of about USD 60 billion should be sufficient to absorb the company’s annual dividend obligation of about USD 1 billion, without creating a significant impact on asset prices. The company currently holds 818,334 BTC, with a total value of more than USD 66 billion. It remains the largest publicly listed corporate holder of Bitcoin treasury reserves worldwide. Saylor also stated that as long as Bitcoin appreciates by more than 2.3% annually, the company could continue paying dividends without diluting shareholders. This further reinforced its long-term asset holding strategy and signaled the stability of its financial structure to the market.

Trending Tokens:

• $ST (Sentio)

Sentio has become an important decentralized data and compute network tailored to the needs of crypto developers. The project recently reached a key milestone with the launch of its decentralized data layer testnet, which allows users to run independent indexers. This infrastructure serves as the underlying engine for Sentio and provides a modern developer stack that includes Sentio Processor and multi-language SDKs. The project raised USD 6.4 million in funding led by Lightspeed Venture and HashKey Capital, demonstrating strong institutional backing. The network supports a broad range of ecosystems, including Ethereum, Polygon, and Solana, to enable real-time tracking and cross-chain queries. Developers are increasingly using these tools to build and scale DeFi protocols, gaming platforms, and trading bots.

• $SLX (Solstice)

Solstice Labs is an institutional-grade DeFi optimization protocol built within the Solana ecosystem and designed to provide professional investment products. The narrative around the project has strengthened further with the announcement of staked SLX, which introduces the token’s first major utility. This new feature offers up to 20% annualized yield and marks the protocol’s expansion into a dedicated utility layer. The staked version is designed to complement the existing eUSX yield layer. This ensures that rewards can continue flowing to participants even when broader yield conditions compress. The project was launched by Deus X Capital and is led by co-founder Tim Grant to bridge traditional finance and decentralized systems. Current market attention is mainly driven by the strategic alignment of incentives and the potential to access high-yield returns on the Solana blockchain. The protocol continues to gain attention as a key liquidity aggregator and yield optimizer for sophisticated market participants.

• $OSMO (Osmosis)

Osmosis is a leading cross-chain decentralized exchange and a sovereign Layer 1 blockchain within the Cosmos ecosystem. It stands out by providing a modular framework that allows developers to design and deploy customized automated market makers. By using its native on-chain governance system, the protocol supports the creation of specialized liquidity modules tailored to specific asset classes. The project has raised USD 21 million from prominent investors, including Paradigm and Robot Ventures. This narrative is mainly driven by the platform’s core role in cross-chain asset management and its robust infrastructure for DeFi applications. As an established participant since 2021, Osmosis remains a focal point for institutional interest and decentralized liquidity across the broader blockchain landscape.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this section is for informational purposes only and doesn't represent any investment advice or FameEX's official view.