Tensions Rise in US-Iran First Round of Talks, Traditional Finance Sees US Stock Retreat, Oil Prices Up Over 2%, Bitcoin Falls Below $64,000

June 22 – Last night and this morning, mediators from the U.S., Iran, and other parties gathered in Switzerland for the first round of talks since the signing of a memorandum of understanding. A key topic during the day’s discussions was the “Lebanon Conflict De-escalation Mechanism and the Enforcement of the Ceasefire Agreement.” Tensions between the U.S. and Iran ran high throughout the negotiations. The U.S. delegation and conference organizers had initially planned a handshake and photo op between the Iranian and U.S. teams to kick off the multilateral talks, but the Iranian negotiating team nixed the plan. That’s when President Trump issued a tough statement targeting Iran, sparking an immediate deadlock: the Iranian delegation walked out in sharp protest. Multiple media outlets are reporting that the Iranian delegation remains at the Swiss negotiation venue but refuses to hold further talks with the U.S. Meanwhile, discussions among other key parties and mediators from Pakistan and Qatar are still underway. This news weighed on traditional finance (tradfi) markets, leading to broad pullbacks in U.S. and South Korean stocks. SK Hynix fell more than 5% within two hours, wiping out most of its gains from the recent three-day holiday, while SNDK, MU, and MRVL also posted declines of varying sizes. Per Bitget market data, Nasdaq 100 index futures extended their losses to 1.1% by this morning. Brent and WTI crude oil futures climbed more than 2% in early Asian trading on Monday. Bitcoin also slipped, now trading at $63,338.40, down nearly 0.73% over the past hour.