Bitcoin Holds Above $83,000 After Trump Announces Ukraine-Russia Energy Ceasefire
By Joseph WilkinsBitcoin held above $83,000 on Monday after President Trump pushed Russia and Ukraine to agree to halt strikes on each other's energy infrastructure, giving risk assets a boost.The flagship cryptocurrency was broadly flat at $83,530, after a weekend of geopolitical tumult saw Trump announce an unconfirmed energy truce between Ukraine and Russia, while conflict between Saudi Arabia and Houthi militants in Yemen continued to escalate.Persistently high energy prices are weighing on Trump's popularity ahead of the midterm elections, while also dampening investor sentiment for risk assets including cryptocurrencies.Since consolidating above the $80,000 threshold, bitcoin has struggled to mount a further push beyond $87,000. A key test for crypto for the rest of 2026 rests on whether softer inflation and wage growth can bring down Treasury yields and cause the dollar to weaken, which would ease financial conditions for cryptocurrencies.Investors are looking ahead to U.S. inflation data on Wednesday for clues on future interest-rate decisions."Wednesday's CPI is likely to show elevated inflation thanks to rising energy prices, and while there will be much scrutiny on the month-over-month numbers, the bottom line is that inflation is still well above the Fed's 2% target and that is a problem for the central bank," said Clark Bellin, chief investment officer at financial planning firm Bellwether Wealth.Write to Joseph Wilkins at [email protected]