The crypto market fell 1.3% to $2.64 trillion on Tuesday, April 28, as concerns over stalled U.S.-Iran peace negotiations and rising oil prices eroded investor appetite for risk assets.

Bitcoin, btc-1.31% price crashed 2.2% from Monday’s high of $78,225 to $76,480 earlier today before settling around $76,900. Ethereum, eth-1.41% was down 1%, trading near $2,300, while other major altcoins such as XRP xrp-1.77%XRP, BNB bnb-0.6%BNB, Solana sol-1.67%Solana, and Tron trx-0.18%TRON 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. According to 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. 

Delayed Iran-USA War Negotiations Causing The Dip

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 recent proposal, the Iranian government said 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.  Fits yet to take root and thus the tense and unsettling suspense affecting both oil and crypto prices.

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. 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.

If the tension transpires with the talks lingering, crypto bearish marathon will still continue as world peace remains at stake.