On Monday, March 23, President Trump announced a 5-day moratorium on strikes against Iran. The decision added $1.7 trillion to US stocks, sent oil prices down 15%, and sent Bitcoin above $70,000. The holiday has now been extended until April 6.
But Tehran called this ‘fake news’, and Israel has already violated Trump’s suspension. Almost all of these financial gains disappeared within a week.
So, did Donald Trump really have good talks with Iran, or was it just a way to benefit the financial markets and take out the big players?
How Trump’s Suspension Relates to Market Hours
The action begins on Saturday, March 22. Trump posted a 48-hour executive order on Truth Social demanding that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face a strike on its infrastructure.
This deadline was supposed to expire on Monday evening, and open and transparent traditional markets.
Instead of following up, Trump tweeted at 7 a.m. ET Monday, saying “excellent and productive discussion” and Tehran he announced 5 day suspension of all electronic devices.
The 5-day window ended on Saturday, March 28. Not a random day.
- Equity markets are closed
- Futures liquidity is limited
- School desks do not have internet access.
If the increase resumes, it will fall into the street the same low-water window that has preceded every major stock market shakeup of the Trump era starting in mid-2025.
Someone Sold Before Shipping
Markets moved ahead of the announcement. Between 6:49 and 6:50 am ET, approximately 6,200 Brent and WTI futures contracts changed hands with a value of $580 million.
The same-minute average over the past five trading days was about 700 contracts, according to Bloomberg data. report and the Financial Times.
At the same time, $1.5 billion in S&P 500 futures were purchased. That single order pushed the index 0.3% higher at the same time. Fourteen minutes later, Trump’s post was taken down. As of 7:10 am ET, the S&P 500 had gained nearly $2 trillion in price.
US and UK authorities are said to be reviewing the details. No charges have been filed.
“The increase in sales before the site is enough to raise eyebrows, and I think we should investigate what caused this,” he wrote CBS News, citing Stephen Piepgrass, a futures partner at law firm Troutman Pepper Locke.
Iran Says It Never Happened
Tehran’s response left no details. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf called it “fake news” aimed at disrupting the financial and oil markets.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs described it as a war of ideas aimed at lowering electricity prices and buying time for the strike. Officials acknowledged that they had received messages through intermediaries but insisted that no direct talks had taken place.
The rejection led to an immediate change. The oil came back. The stock returned about half of its gains. BTC bounced back after briefly retracing $70,000, and then leaving $265 million in crypto shorts were liquidated within 15 minutes.
This Has Happened 11 Times Since November 2024
Monday was not the first time. BeInCrypto has tracked 11 Trump announcements moving through the market since November 2024, each following what traders now call the TACO model, a cycle of actions, crashes, returns, and recoveries.
- Liberation Day rates were announced on April 2, 2025, at 4:30 pm ET, after the markets closed. Trump tweeted “GET DEEP! THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!” the next morning, minutes after opening. A A 90-day break followedmaking a 9.5% rally in the S&P 500.
- On October 10, 2025, a 100% risk in China it went down on Friday, 20 minutes after closing. BTC fell 18.4%. Crypto liquidations hit $19.1 billion in 24 hours.
Six shows guaranteed Friday night between June 2025 and February 2026 followed the same logic. BeInCrypto identified this as a 60-hour replay of the event.
Iran’s breath is evolution. Instead of driving on Friday and driving back on Monday, Monday itself became a car. Ultimatum Saturday. Writing Help. The next window up on Saturday again.
What Experts See
A political scientist from Oxford, Richard Heydarian warned on the BeInCrypto podcast that the economic damage caused by the conflict could reach billions when Trump’s tactics are unpredictable.
“Trump is intellectually predictable, but intellectually impossible to predict. We know what the end is. American hegemony, without a doubt. But how to achieve this in a very difficult world? No one knows,” Richard Heydarian told BeInCrypto.
Stanford economist Mordecai Kurz, also speaking on the BeInCrypto podcast, put the situation within the context of a strong privacy crisis that leaves ordinary people exposed.
“There is so much private power in America that this cannot continue… young people have a chance only if the technology is designed to help people and the policy is to help people,” Kurz. he explained.
The 5-day clock ends on Saturday. If the model holds, the next chapter comes when markets are closed, and currencies are very weak.
During the 11 recorded events and 16 months, the model did not break once.
A note How Trump’s Iran Deal Fits Into His Playbook for Market Times appeared for the first time BeInCrypto.
