Tensions High as US-Iran Initial Talks Begin, Traditional Finance Sees US Stock Retreat, Oil Prices Surge Over 2%, Bitcoin Falls Below $64,000

BlockBeats News, June 22nd. Last night and this morning, mediators from the United States, Iran, and various parties held the first-round of talks in Switzerland after the signing of a memorandum of understanding. One of the key topics discussed during the day's talks was the "Lebanon Conflict De-escalation Mechanism and the Enforcement of the Ceasefire Agreement." Tensions were high between the US and Iran during the talks. The US side and the meeting organizers had originally planned for a handshake and photo op between the Iranian and US delegations at the start of the multilateral talks, but this was opposed by the Iranian negotiating team. Subsequently, Trump made a strong statement against Iran, leading to a direct deadlock in the negotiations, with the Iranian delegation walking out in strong protest. (Image shows the moment the Iranian delegation protested and left the venue)

According to various media reports, the latest development is that the Iranian delegation is still at the negotiation venue in Switzerland but refuses to continue talks with the United States, and negotiations between various parties and mediators from Pakistan and Qatar are still ongoing.

Following this news, tradfi saw a general downturn in US and South Korean stocks, with SK Hynix plunging over 5% in two hours, erasing most of its 3-day holiday gains, while SNDK, MU, and MRVL all experienced varying degrees of decline.

According to Bitget market data, this morning Nasdaq 100 index futures extended losses to 1.1%. Brent crude oil and WTI crude oil futures surged over 2% in early Asian trading on Monday.

Bitcoin also experienced a decline, currently trading at $63,338.40, with a nearly 0.73% drop in the past hour.