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Bitcoin pulled back from this week’s $81,500 high after U.S. forces fired on Iranian targets, while crypto futures markets logged their 67th straight day of negative funding rates—the longest streak in a decade, according to K33 Research.
Bitcoin traded at $79,687.58, with a reported $79,614 print in Asian hours Friday. The asset was down 1.6% over 24 hours but up 3.3% on the week, after retreating from a Wednesday high above $81,000. That $81,500 level was the highest print since late January.
Other major cryptocurrencies were mostly lower: ether fell 2% to $2,278, dogecoin slid 3.8% to $0.1063, XRP dropped 1.7% to $1.38, and BNB shed 0.7% to $638. Solana and TRON were up at $88.14 and $0.3474, respectively. Dogecoin was the only major coin in the red on the seven-day tape.
The pullback followed reports that U.S. forces fired on Iranian targets after attacks on American naval destroyers transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. President Donald Trump described the strike as a “love tap” in an ABC News interview, said the ceasefire with Iran remains “in effect,” and threatened further action if Tehran does not sign a deal soon.
Brent crude rose 1.2% to around $101 a barrel on the escalation, though oil remains down more than 6% on the week as the broader U.S.-Iran de-escalation narrative continues to hold.
Crypto derivatives showed continued stress for short positions. Bitcoin futures funding rates have remained negative for 67 consecutive days, the longest streak in 10 years per K33 Research.
Funding rates are periodic payments between traders holding long and short futures positions. Negative funding means shorts are paying longs to keep positions open. With shorts paying for roughly two-and-a-half months while price has risen steadily, analysts described the setup as favorable for a short squeeze—where a sharp price move forces shorts to close, accelerating the rally.
FxPro chief market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich said bitcoin’s pause is not evidence of buyer exhaustion. He noted that bitcoin rose to $82,800 on Wednesday, approaching but not breaking through the 200-day moving average at $83,200. From local highs, the cryptocurrency retreated to $81,300 at the time of writing.
Kuptsikevich added that the daily RSI reached overbought territory above 70. He said that in the previous three instances when this occurred (August, October, and January), the market was followed by sharp selloffs, and that it is “logical” for participants to take a breather to assess conditions and gather strength.
Options positioning also reflected caution. QCP Capital said in a Telegram broadcast that monthly implied volatility remains around 41% and that demand for put options persists, indicating traders are buying bitcoin while continuing to hedge downside risk.
Research firm XWIN Japan flagged $93,000 as a medium-term target, citing a move driven by closing the CME futures gap. The firm cautioned that the path may not be linear and could include a leg lower first.
For now, the market appears to be balancing two competing forces: the extreme negative funding keeps the short squeeze scenario active if bitcoin breaks above the $83,200 technical level, while Iran-related headlines and overbought RSI conditions leave room for another retest of the lower range.
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