finance
Bitcoin Holds Above $76,000 Despite Middle East Tensions and Rising Oil Prices
Bitcoin fell around 1% to $80,800 and ether dropped 2% to $2,290 on May 12, 2026, even as President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was on massive life support. Brent crude spiked to $107 per barrel and the U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.4%. Crypto futures open interest climbed to $125 billion while volumes declined.
May 12, 6:40 AM·2m read1 source
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Bitcoin fell around 1% to $80,800 on May 12, 2026, while ether dropped 2% to $2,290 as escalating Middle East tensions drove gains in oil and the dollar. 04 at one point during the session and had fallen 1% since midnight UTC. Ether lost 2% to $2,290 over the same period.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was "on massive life support" on May 12, 2026. U.S. equity futures lower and contributed to a spike in Brent crude oil to $107 per barrel.
U.S. 4% on the day. Bitcoin remained above $76,000 despite the decline. BitMine chairman Tom Lee said bitcoin holding above $76,000 at the end of the month would confirm the end of a bull market.
The cryptocurrency has now stabilized near that level amid the broader market retreat. Most altcoins underperformed bitcoin and ether. 08090.
CRV and TON also gained between 5% and 10% while JUP, MON and SEI each fell more than 5%. 1% on May 12, 2026, marking a three-day winning streak. CoinDesk reported that the move followed a governance proposal that would replace inflation-driven staking rewards with yields funded by actual protocol revenue if approved.
Market-wide notional open interest in crypto futures rose to $125 billion on May 12, 2026, even as volumes fell 6% to $174 million. The combination pointed to reduced short-term speculation and gradual positioning by traders. 90 million tokens on May 12, 2026.
48 million tokens last week before May 12, 2026. The token's price dropped to $550 from $642 in the period before May 12, 2026. Open interest in Canton’s CC token jumped more than 10% on May 12, 2026.
