TLDR
- Bitcoin dropped to near $75,000 on April 21 as U.S.-Iran peace talks showed signs of stalling ahead of a ceasefire deadline.
- Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh stressed the Fed’s independence during his Senate hearing, pushing back on pressure to cut rates immediately.
- Over 6,700 traders were liquidated, wiping out nearly $97 million in leveraged positions during the volatile session.
- Key resistance levels sit at $78,000 and $84,000, where roughly 1.1 million BTC are held at cost basis.
- Bitcoin has since recovered to $78,000, with analysts saying the rally is “already in progress.”
Bitcoin had a turbulent session on April 21, swinging between $75,000 and $77,000 before recovering to $78,000 in the days that followed. Two main forces drove the volatility: stalling U.S.-Iran peace talks and the Senate confirmation hearing for Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh.
The day started with cautious optimism. Reports that a U.S. delegation was heading to Islamabad for a second round of talks with Iranian officials briefly lifted BTC to a session high of $76,944 around 6:30 a.m. EDT.
That optimism faded fast. Conflicting reports about whether Iranian officials would even attend cast doubt on the talks. Bitcoin then slid to an intraday low of $75,085 by 1:20 p.m. EDT.
BREAKING: President Trump extends the US ceasefire with Iran indefinitely. pic.twitter.com/ofRSwSmHof
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) April 21, 2026
By late afternoon, BTC had climbed back above $75,500. It has since pushed higher, trading around $78,000 at the time of writing.
The volatile session wiped out 6,769 traders. Nearly $97 million in leveraged positions were liquidated, with short positions making up $62.45 million, or about 64% of the total.
Fed Hearing Adds Pressure
Markets were also watching Kevin Warsh’s Senate Banking Committee hearing. Warsh made clear the Fed would operate free from political influence on rate decisions, pushing back on speculation that Trump had asked him to commit to cuts.
“The President never asked me to predetermine, commit, fix, decide on any interest rate decision,” Warsh said.
Trump said publicly on Tuesday he would be disappointed if Warsh doesn’t cut rates right away. Warsh’s comments signaled less urgency to act, which weighed on risk assets including crypto.
Crypto stocks felt the pressure. Coinbase dropped over 6%, Circle fell 8.3%, Galaxy slid 5.5%, and Robinhood dropped 4.5%.
What Analysts Are Saying
CryptoQuant analyst CW8900 pointed to Bitcoin’s Spent Output Profit Ratio hitting an eight-month high of 2.87, saying: “The bottom for $BTC was formed last February. The rally is already in progress.”
Bitcoin’s Net Unrealized Profit/Loss also flipped positive for the first time since early January, which analysts say signals the end of the downtrend.
The $BTC adjusted Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL) has turned positive.
The downtrend for $BTC has ended, and an uptrend has begun.
The real rally of this cycle has begun. pic.twitter.com/ZK8Dz9VvS8
— CW (@CW8900) April 21, 2026
Resistance now sits at $84,000, where approximately 1.1 million BTC are held at an average cost basis. The U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF average cost basis of $83,100 is seen as the next major hurdle.
Bitcoin’s market cap sat just above $1.51 trillion following Tuesday’s session. BTC is now trading at $78,000.
