In Asian trading hours on Tuesday, Bitcoin (BTC) soared past the $81,000 mark, reaching $81,560.92, according to CoinDesk data. It saw a weekly rise of 6.7%, buoyed by an overall risk-on market sentiment that has driven equities to record highs amid easing Iran tensions and renewed interest in AI technologies.
Other major cryptocurrencies also experienced gains. Solana climbed 3% to $87.35, while Dogecoin increased by 4% to $0.1158, pushing its weekly gain to 14.5%, with futures open interest at year-high levels. XRP, BNB, and TRX all recorded positive daily performance.
Ether lagged slightly behind, showing a minor decline of 0.3% over the past 24 hours, despite maintaining a 3.9% weekly increase at $2,376. The inflow streak for spot ETH ETFs ended last week after three consecutive weeks of growth.
Wall Street indices closed at unprecedented highs on Tuesday following President Donald Trump’s announcement of progress toward an agreement with Iran and his decision to temporarily halt Operation Project Freedom. Brent crude prices dropped 1.7% to around $108 per barrel, while the dollar weakened against all its G-10 counterparts after serving as a haven during the US-Israel conflict in Iran.
On Wednesday morning, Asian equities reached new highs, with the MSCI Asia Pacific index rising by 1.8%. South Korea’s Kospi surged over 6% to an all-time high, aided by Samsung Electronics’ 15% jump that pushed its valuation past $1 trillion, making it the second Asian company to achieve this milestone.
Earnings reports from Advanced Micro Devices and Super Micro Computer bolstered AI-related market momentum, with Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.6%.
During Strategy’s Q1 2026 earnings call, executive chairman Michael Saylor mentioned that the firm might sell part of its Bitcoin holdings to meet dividend obligations. As the world’s largest corporate bitcoin holder with 818,334 BTC, acquired at an average cost of $75,537, Strategy has traditionally adhered to a buy-and-hold strategy without selling any of its position.
The company reported a $12.54 billion net loss for Q1 due to Bitcoin’s decline from October’s peak of $126,000, affecting its mark-to-market accounting. With approximately $1.5 billion in annual dividend obligations for preferred stock and outstanding debt, Strategy has about 18 months’ worth of USD reserves at current rates.
Following the announcement, MSTR shares fell over 4% in after-hours trading, while BTC briefly dipped below $81,000 before recovering.
Saylor described the potential sale as an adaptation within their strategy rather than a deviation, contrasting with previous quarters where Strategy typically issued additional debt or equity to meet obligations instead of liquidating Bitcoin holdings.