Crypto Market Turns Green as Trump Extends Iran Ceasefire Against His Own Word
The crypto market recovered across the board on April 22 after Donald Trump extended the US-Iran ceasefire, reversing a position he had previously stated publicly, buying more time for peace talks that Iran has so far refused to join.
Key takeaways:
- Trump extended ceasefire until Iran submits a unified proposal.
- JD Vance’s Pakistan trip canceled.
- Iranian official: extension is “an attempt to buy time for a surprise strike”.
- IRGC expanded target list to Gulf oil infrastructure across five countries.
- BTC up 3% to $77,580.
- Cardano +2.5%, Bitcoin Cash +3%, Chainlink +4.6%.
- Stellar +15.8%, Monero +11.3%.
With the ceasefire between the United States and Iran set to expire on Wednesday April 22, Donald Trump announced he would extend it, despite having previously said he would not. The extension is not open-ended. It runs until Iran submits a unified proposal, making it a conditional ultimatum as much as a diplomatic gesture. The decision came after days of silence from Tehran.
According to CNBC, the US had sent Iran a list of deal points ahead of a planned second round of talks in Islamabad, Pakistan. No response came. Vice President JD Vance’s trip to lead those talks was canceled on the same day Trump made his announcement.
Iran’s response was immediate and pointed. A senior official called the extension “an attempt to buy time for a surprise strike”, framing it not as a goodwill gesture but as cover for military preparation. A separate Iranian adviser said the extension “has no meaning.” Iran’s UN envoy said talks could happen, but only if the US ends its naval blockade of Iranian ports, which Tehran has previously described as an act of war. The IRGC went further, expanding its stated target list beyond military installations to include major oil fields and refineries across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, countries that host US military bases.
The complication running beneath all of it: US officials believe Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has been giving his subordinates unclear direction, leaving Iranian negotiators unable to agree on a position, particularly around uranium enrichment. Pakistan, acting as intermediary, pushed Trump to extend the ceasefire specifically to give Iran more time to reach internal consensus. There is, as US officials acknowledged, little guarantee that time will produce one.
The market reacted immediately
Crypto did not wait for the diplomatic fine print. Bitcoin climbed 3% over 24 hours to reach above $78,000, putting it back within reach of its monthly high. Ethereum followed with a 2.4% gain to $2,366. Solana added 2.4% to $87.29. The moves were consistent and broad, BNB up 1.6%, Dogecoin up 1.47%, XRP up 1.3%, the kind of uniform green that comes from a single macro catalyst being removed rather than individual asset momentum.
Further down the rankings, Cardano gained almost 3%, Bitcoin Cash 2.9%, and Chainlink 2%, mid-cap assets that tend to move more sharply when risk appetite returns quickly after a period of suppression. Stellar posted 3.5% and Monero 7.6%, both outperforming the broader market move by a significant margin.
What the extension actually bought
A ceasefire extension without Iranian buy-in is not a deal, it is a deadline moved. The market has priced the removal of the immediate expiry risk, and that read is correct as far as it goes. What it has not priced is the scenario where the extension expires under the same conditions: no agreed framework, no confirmed talks, no internal Iranian consensus, and now, an Iranian government publicly accusing the US of using the pause to prepare a military strike.
Bitcoin at $78,000 is a relief trade. Whether it becomes something more depends entirely on whether the next deadline produces a negotiating table that both sides actually sit at. That has not happened yet.
The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice. Coindoo.com does not endorse or recommend any specific investment strategy or cryptocurrency. Always conduct your own research and consult with a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coindoo and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
