Bitcoin broke through the $73,000 level on Monday that had rejected it three times in the past eight days, hitting $74,484 — its highest price since before the Iran conflict began in late February.
The move triggered $534 million in liquidations across around 180,000 traders. Of that, $430 million came from short positions, making it the second major short squeeze in less than a week.
Ether outperformed Bitcoin, rising 7.7% to reach $2,366 — its highest level in about ten weeks. Solana gained 4.6%, BNB rose 3.3%, and every top-10 crypto asset posted gains on both the daily and weekly chart.
The largest single liquidation was a $12.4 million BTC-USDT short on Aster. Bitcoin accounted for $229 million in total liquidations, followed by Ether at $136 million.
The rally is being linked to signals from President Trump that he may be open to resuming talks with Iran. A US military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz began on Monday, but markets appear to be reading it as a pressure tool rather than a full escalation.
Jeff Mei, COO at BTSE, told Cointelegraph: “Traders believe the US and Iran are coming closer to a deal. Iran is frantically looking to broker a deal, and stock and crypto markets are rallying as a response.”
The S&P 500 has now erased all losses from the Iran conflict, and the MSCI All Country World Index posted its eighth straight day of gains.
Bitcoin ETFs saw $833 million in net inflows last week. James Butterfill of CoinShares said this “reflects a rebound in risk appetite following tentative ceasefire developments in Iran, alongside support from softer-than-expected US spending and CPI data.”
On-chain data from Santiment shows that whale wallets holding between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC added 30,000 tokens in March — roughly $2.1 billion worth. Around 20,000 BTC of that was added in a single day.
Analyst account Santiment noted on X that whales holding between 1K and 10K BTC now control over 4.25 million BTC, or 21.3% of the total supply — the most they’ve held since mid-February.
Whales holding between 1K-10K Bitcoin now hold over 4.25M $BTC (21.3% of the supply). This is the most coins they've held since mid-February. The 27,652 BTC added Sunday equates to just over $2B in accumulation. Bitcoin has enjoyed a rebound back to $72.6K today.
pic.twitter.com/r0ygTVaGUM
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) April 13, 2026
Trading firm Valerius Labs noted: “This isn’t a breakout. It’s a short squeeze running into overhead supply. Real buyers show up above the 200 SMA, not 15% below it.”
CryptoQuant identified the next key resistance near $79,000 — the Traders’ Realized Price, where active buyers from the recent drawdown return to breakeven and may look to sell.
The 4-hour RSI has climbed to 62, above its 14-period average, which analysts say points to accelerating momentum. A ceasefire between the US and Iran is set to expire next week, with another round of talks currently being discussed.
The post Bitcoin (BTC) Price: ETF Inflows Hit $833M and Whales Add $2B in BTC as Market Rallies on Iran Talks appeared first on CoinCentral.
