Dogecoin slides 4%, bitcoin rally pauses as Iran ceasefire optimism lifts equities

Crypto majors took a breather Thursday after a strong run, with bitcoin holding around $81,000 and ether slipping below $2,330 as global equities pushed to fresh records on hopes of a US-Iran deal.

What to know:

• Major cryptocurrencies paused their recent rally, with bitcoin slipping below $81,000 and ether and dogecoin retreating even as weekly gains remained solid.
• Global equities climbed to fresh records on optimism over a potential U.S.-Iran cease-fire and strong corporate earnings, while oil eased and gold extended its surge on rate-cut hopes.
• Analysts see bitcoin’s 200-day moving average near $83,300 as a key bullish test amid rising stablecoin issuance, growing institutional interest from firms like Morgan Stanley, and continued accumulation of ether by large holders.

The crypto rally took a pit stop on Thursday while equities kept zooming higher.

Bitcoin BTC$81,437.09 traded at $80,945 in Asian hours, down 0.7% over 24 hours but still up 6.9% on the week. Ether (ETH) slipped 2% to $2,326, and DOGE$0.1115 was the major laggard, dropping 4.4% to $0.1106 after last week's run took its 30-day return into the double digits.

XRP and BNB held steadier, with XRP at $1.41 and BNB up 1.3% to $643. Solana zoomed 6.1% on the week to $88.06.

The pullback came as global stock markets ripped to fresh records on U.S.-Iran ceasefire hopes, with reports indicating the two countries are working on a proposal to end the nearly 10-week conflict.

The MSCI All Country World Index advanced 0.3% and MSCI's Asia gauge jumped 1.9% to a record, with Japan's Nikkei 225 hitting an intraday high. South Korea passed Canada as the world's seventh-largest equity market by value, with Softbank surging 18% and TSMC adding 3.3%. Wall Street gauges closed at all-time highs Wednesday with about 80% of S&P 500 companies beating earnings estimates, Bloomberg reported.

Brent crude held under $102 a barrel on speculation a US-Iran deal would help resume oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, while gold zoomed for a third straight day to $4,700 an ounce on Fed rate-cut bets and easing inflation expectations.

FxPro chief market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich said in a note that bitcoin's next test sits at the 200-day moving average around $83,300. A moving average smooths out short-term volatility by averaging an asset's price over a set period, and the 200-day version is among the most-watched long-term trend gauge among traders.

"A firm consolidation above this level would be a further sign of bullish dominance," he wrote, adding that the first such sign came one month ago when bitcoin held above the 50-day moving average. He flagged that a short-term profit-taking phase is likely as bitcoin approaches $83,000, "allowing some of the gains to be taken."

The structural backdrop continues to support the move. Tether's market cap has grown by $5.9 billion over the past 60 days, per analyst Darkfost, reversing a $2 billion monthly outflow trend that ran through early 2026. Such issuances are considered to be a source of new capital entering the crypto market.

In other developments, Morgan Stanley signalled this week that US banks may eventually be able to hold bitcoin on their balance sheets despite current regulatory barriers, with the bank already running a bitcoin-based ETP and planning to launch spot crypto trading on its wealth platform later this year.

Western Union launched its own stablecoin, USDPT, on Solana to bypass traditional interbank settlement delays.

Elsewhere, BitMine added more than 100,000 ETH for the third straight week, taking its ether reserves to 5.18 million ETH worth roughly $13 billion, or 4.29% of total supply.

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At Consensus 2026 in Miami, executives from Two Prime, Ledn and Lygos Finance said institutional borrowers increasingly prioritize custody, transparency and standardized lending structures over complex DeFi products after the crypto credit collapses of 2022.

What to know:

• Institutional bitcoin lenders are shifting away from complex DeFi structures toward more traditional finance-style practices emphasizing transparency, standardized contracts and clear risk controls.
• Panelists at Consensus 2026 said institutional borrowers increasingly scrutinize where bitcoin collateral is stored and whether lenders rehypothecate assets, reflecting lessons from the 2022 crypto lending collapses.

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BTCBTC$81,437.09◢0.11%

DOGEDOGE$0.1115◢3.72%