Why is the crypto market dropping today? (April 28)

The crypto market fell 1.3% to $2.64 trillion on Tuesday as concerns over stalled U.S.-Iran peace negotiations and rising oil prices eroded investor appetite for risk assets.

Bitcoin (BTC) price crashed 2.2% from Monday’s high of $78,225 to $76,480 earlier today before settling around $76,900 at press time. Ethereum (ETH) was down 1%, trading near $2,300, while other major altcoins such as XRP (XRP), BNB (BNB), Solana (SOL), and Tron (TRX) were also in the red with losses between 1-2%. Some of the top laggards of the day were MemeCore, Zcash, and Hyperliquid, which were some of the best gainers last week.

Per CoinGlass data, over $266 million was liquidated from the total market, with $210 million resulting specifically from long liquidations. Long liquidations occur when prices drop sharply and force the closure of leveraged buy positions, and tend to create a cascade of selling that further depresses prices.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index kept slipping away from the neutral reading towards fearful sentiment, a sign that investors are growing more cautious about the short-term outlook. 

Crypto market fell amid delayed peace negotiations in the U.S.-Iran war

The crypto market tanked today as investors remain on the sidelines awaiting more concrete evidence of a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran to permanently end their conflict.

In their most recent proposal, the Iranian government had proposed that they would comply with the U.S. to end their war if the U.S. lift their naval blockade on Iranian ports and delays nuclear talks to a later phase of the diplomatic process. 

While U.S. President Donald Trump and his national security team are reportedly reviewing the Iranian peace plan to halt the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the offer has so far not yet advanced, with Trump canceling plans recently to send envoys to Pakistan for talks with the Iranian side.

The lack of diplomatic progress has led crude oil prices to climb back towards $100 per barrel on Tuesday. Notably, WTI crude oil was trading up 3% at $99 while Brent crude oil was up 2.3% at over $110. 

Global economic pressure

Rising oil prices tend to pressure the global economy by stoking runaway inflation and thus lead investors to scale away from investing in speculative assets like cryptocurrencies.

Investors have also backed away from safe-haven assets such as gold and precious metals. Notably, gold prices fell 1.1% over the past 24 hours, while silver was down 2%. 

Asian tech stocks such as the Nikkei 225, Hang Seng, and the Shanghai Composite were also trading lower on Tuesday afternoon.

Crypto-related stocks followed the downward trend. Coinbase shares fell 1.5%, Circle lost 3.5%, and Galaxy Digital dropped close to 6%. In the U.S., the Nasdaq slipped 0.3% in early trading, while the S&P 500 held flat as investors looked ahead to a busy earnings calendar featuring Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple.