Bitcoin climbed back to $82,000 on Friday as the cryptocurrency market recovered from its late-Thursday decline. Sentiment improved after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington would not attack Iran before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, easing concerns about an imminent escalation in the conflict.
In a Truth Social post published at 12:17 p.m. ET, Trump stated that the U.S. would not launch an attack on Iran before the elections.
“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 wrote.
Trump characterized discussions with Iran as “productive” but stressed that the U.S. blockade would stay “in full force and effect.”
Following the announcement, Bitcoin’s selling pressure weakened near $80,300 before the price gradually advanced toward $82,000. Other leading cryptocurrencies also recovered, with Ether, XRP, Solana and several altcoins regaining some of the ground lost during Thursday’s downturn.
Oil market volatility fuels crypto pressure
The previous sell-off began approximately 24 hours earlier as fears of renewed U.S.-Iran military action pushed oil prices higher.
On Oct. 7, Axios reported that the Pentagon had instructed U.S. Central Command to prepare for the possible resumption of major combat operations in Iran. The report sent West Texas Intermediate crude futures higher, from $89 to $93.20, before prices reversed following Trump’s statement. At the time of writing, crude futures were trading at $90.69.
Security experts debate ‘bunker mode’
Separately, concerns surrounding a proposed crypto security measure known as “bunker mode” are being challenged by several industry experts. The discussion added to market anxiety on Thursday.
Bunker mode involves transferring cryptocurrency holdings to newly created wallet addresses whose public keys have never been exposed onchain. The approach is intended to reduce potential security risks associated with future advances in cryptography-breaking technology.
Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake raised the idea earlier in the week amid concerns that AI-powered mathematical advances could weaken the elliptic-curve cryptography protecting Bitcoin and Ethereum transactions before sufficiently advanced quantum computers become available.
Coinbase chief cryptographer Yehuda Lindell dismissed the concerns as “FUD,” arguing that there was no evidence the established mathematical assumptions underlying elliptic-curve cryptography had been broken.
Dragonfly’s Haseeb Qureshi, however, described the proposal as a “very sober call.” Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin also acknowledged potential risks from AI-accelerated mathematics, while highlighting lattice-based cryptography rather than elliptic curves in his comments.
Bitcoin support and resistance levels
Traders are now watching $81,000 as a crucial support level for Bitcoin. A break below that threshold could expose the market to further losses.
“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 identified $82,000 as a key resistance level that Bitcoin needs to reclaim and hold.
“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.
