Bitcoin returned to the $82,000 level on Friday as digital assets recovered from Thursday’s losses following President Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would not strike Iran before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The comments helped ease fears of an immediate military escalation.
Trump made the statement in a Truth Social post published at 12:17 p.m. ET, ruling out an attack on Iran before the upcoming 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.
Although Trump described discussions with Iran as “productive,” he confirmed that the U.S. blockade would remain “in full force and effect.”
Bitcoin’s decline slowed after the announcement, with prices finding support near $80,300 before recovering to approximately $82,000. The broader crypto market also strengthened, as Ether, XRP, Solana and other major tokens clawed back part of their Thursday losses.
Oil prices and Iran tensions weigh on markets
The earlier crypto downturn began about a day before Trump’s post, when concerns over a possible resumption of U.S.-Iran hostilities sent oil prices higher.
Axios reported on Oct. 7 that the Pentagon had instructed U.S. Central Command to prepare for renewed major combat operations in Iran. Following the report, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed from $89 to $93.20 before reversing course after Trump’s announcement. Crude futures were trading at $90.69 at the time of writing.
Crypto security debate challenges ‘bunker mode’ fears
Meanwhile, industry experts are pushing back against growing concerns about a proposed security strategy known as “bunker mode,” which added to market uncertainty on Thursday.
The approach involves moving cryptocurrency holdings into newly generated wallet addresses whose public keys have never been exposed onchain. The goal is to limit potential vulnerabilities if future technological advances compromise the cryptographic systems protecting digital assets.
Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake introduced the idea earlier this week, raising concerns that AI-assisted mathematical breakthroughs could undermine the elliptic-curve cryptography used to secure Bitcoin and Ethereum transactions before quantum computers become capable of breaking it.
Coinbase chief cryptographer Yehuda Lindell described the concerns as “FUD,” saying there was no evidence that the mathematical assumptions behind elliptic-curve cryptography had been broken.
Dragonfly’s Haseeb Qureshi called the proposal a “very sober call.” Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin also acknowledged the potential threat posed by AI-accelerated mathematics, but pointed to lattice-based cryptography rather than elliptic curves in discussing possible solutions.
Key Bitcoin price levels in focus
Market participants are monitoring $81,000 as an important Bitcoin support level. A decline below this threshold could expose the cryptocurrency to further downside.
“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, identified $82,000 as a major 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.
