Bitcoin Nears $66K on Peace Optimism and Mining Difficulty Decline

Bitcoin (BTC) climbed toward $66,000 on Monday as reports of a peace agreement between the United States and Iran boosted risk appetite across global markets.

At the same time, a sharp decline in Bitcoin mining difficulty provided additional relief for the network's mining sector. 

The world's largest cryptocurrency gained 3.5% over the past 24 hours to trade at $65,988, recovering from a weekend low near $63,700, according to CoinGecko data. 

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which analyzes market sentiment, jumped to 23 from 15 a week earlier, which had marked the extreme fear territory.

Investor sentiment improved after reports that Washington and Tehran had reached a peace agreement expected to take effect later this week.

According to CNN, a US-Iran agreement is set to take effect this Friday. President Donald Trump said the United States would lift its naval blockade and reopen the Strait of Hormuz once the agreement is signed.

The development helped ease concerns over a broader geopolitical escalation in the Middle East, supporting a rally in both cryptocurrencies and equities. Asian markets opened higher on Monday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 rising nearly 5% and South Korea's Kospi gaining more than 5%. Oil prices also declined sharply following the reports.

Markets are also focused on this week's Federal Reserve meeting, the first under Chair Kevin Warsh, for clues about the path of interest rates.

Alongside improving macroeconomic sentiment, Bitcoin's network fundamentals also received a boost from one of the largest mining difficulty reductions in BTC’s history.

Bitcoin mining difficulty fell 10.09% over the weekend, dropping from 138.96 trillion to 124.93 trillion, according to Galaxy Research. A lower difficulty means miners can earn more Bitcoin for the same computing power, improving profitability.

The adjustment ranks as the 11th-largest downward difficulty adjustment in Bitcoin's history and pushed difficulty to its lowest level since July 2025.

The adjustment followed a roughly 15% decline in Bitcoin's price this month, which squeezed miners' margins and prompted some operators to shut down less-efficient rigs.

Both macroeconomic and network-specific factors are driving Bitcoin's latest rebound. Easing geopolitical risks are improving investor sentiment, while lower mining difficulty is improving miner profitability after weeks of margin pressure.

Bitcoin enters the week with renewed momentum as investors also await the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy meeting under Chair Kevin Warsh.

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