Bitcoin Rebounds While Crude Oil Falls After Trump Rules Out Strikes on Iran

Bitcoin rose back to $82,000 on Friday as crypto markets regained ground after Thursday’s decline. The rebound came after U.S. President Donald Trump ruled out an attack on Iran before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, reducing fears of an imminent military escalation.

Trump announced the decision in a Truth Social post published at 12:17 p.m. ET.

“We will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd,” he stated.

Trump described negotiations with Iran as “productive” but confirmed that the U.S. blockade would continue “in full force and effect.”

Bitcoin’s sell-off eased near $80,300 following the announcement, allowing the leading cryptocurrency to recover toward $82,000. Other major digital assets also moved higher, with Ether, XRP, Solana and several altcoins recovering part of their Thursday declines.

Geopolitical tensions and rising oil prices pressure crypto

The market downturn started roughly 24 hours earlier as concerns about renewed conflict between the U.S. and Iran pushed crude oil prices higher.

On Oct. 7, Axios reported that the Pentagon had instructed U.S. Central Command to prepare for a possible resumption of major combat operations in Iran. Following the report, West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed from $89 to $93.20 before falling sharply after Trump’s announcement. At the time of writing, crude futures stood at $90.69.

Debate grows over crypto ‘bunker mode’

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency security experts are questioning fears surrounding “bunker mode,” a precautionary strategy that contributed to market anxiety on Thursday.

The approach involves transferring crypto holdings to newly created wallet addresses whose public keys have never been exposed onchain. The aim is to reduce security risks if future advances in mathematics or computing threaten the cryptographic methods that protect digital asset transactions.

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake proposed the measure earlier this week amid concerns that AI-assisted mathematical breakthroughs could weaken elliptic-curve cryptography, which secures Bitcoin and Ethereum, before quantum computers become capable of breaking it.

Coinbase chief cryptographer Yehuda Lindell dismissed the concerns as “FUD,” saying there was no evidence that the mathematical assumptions underpinning elliptic-curve cryptography had been broken.

Dragonfly’s Haseeb Qureshi called the proposal a “very sober call.” Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin acknowledged the potential threat from AI-accelerated mathematics but pointed to lattice-based cryptography rather than elliptic curves when discussing alternatives.

Bitcoin price levels to monitor

Market analysts are watching $81,000 as a critical support level for Bitcoin. If the price falls below it, further downside could follow.

“For investors, $81,000 is the immediate level to watch. Fresh purchases can be staggered instead of being committed in 1 trade, while high leverage is best avoided until Bitcoin recovers $83,300 and then $85,500 with stronger ETF inflows. A break below $81,000 could take the market towards $80,000 and subsequently the more important on-chain support near $77,200,” Vikram Subburaj, CEO of India-based Giottus exchange, told CoinDesk.

BitDelta, meanwhile, sees $82,000 as a key resistance level.

“A sustained reclaim of $82,000 with Ethereum above $2,500 and narrower altcoin losses would stabilize the setup. A break below $80,316 would increase downside risk,” Purvang Mashru, lead analyst at BitDelta India, told CoinDesk.