Bitcoin briefly dipped below $80,000 on May 12 as global markets reacted to President Donald Trump’s warning that the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was “on life support.” After testing the $82,000 mark Monday afternoon, the top cryptocurrency showed signs of weakness, plummeting to $80,900.

Although bitcoin quickly rebounded to trade above $81,000 in the early hours of Tuesday, it could not hold the level and slipped below the threshold again around 4 a.m. EDT. From that point, the cryptocurrency began a gradual decline that erased nearly all gains made in the preceding 48 hours. By 12:54 p.m. EDT, bitcoin had dipped to an intraday low of $79,820 before recovering quickly to $80,500.

Consequently, the 1.6% drop over 24 hours dragged the cryptocurrency’s market capitalization down to $1.61 trillion.

Speaking to reporters shortly after receiving Iran’s proposal, which he deemed “unacceptable,” President Trump repeated the argument that Tehran is stringing the U.S. along and seems uninterested in reaching an agreement. This latest impasse in negotiations is seen as strengthening hawks in Washington who favor a return to full combat operations.

However, a return to combat would ensure the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has slowed to a trickle since the conflict began, remains closed. As warned by the Aramco CEO, this prospect means the oil market and prices will not stabilize until at least 2027. This warning places the Trump administration and the Republican Party in a bind, as higher oil prices for the remainder of the year will likely harm their chances in the November midterms.

Rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East were not the only factor weighing on markets. The release of the U.S. April consumer price index (CPI) data, which showed inflation rising to 3.8% versus the projected 3.7%, dampened hopes of a rate cut. As expected, energy prices—particularly gasoline—were the main culprits. The producer price index (PPI) report, set for release on May 13, is the next major catalyst to watch, as it will signal whether these price pressures are continuing to build at the manufacturing level.

Meanwhile, bitcoin’s price action over 24 hours saw $57 million in long bets liquidated versus $7.5 million in shorts. Overall, the cryptocurrency market saw nearly $280 million in leveraged positions liquidated, with long bets accounting for approximately $232 million.

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The EU is clamping down on social media firms and plans to target “addictive design” features on TikTok and Instagram as governments worldwide look to protect children from the harms of social media.

The region will take action against certain features on social media platforms later in the year, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday at the European Summit on Artificial Intelligence and Children in Denmark.

CNBC has approached ByteDance and Meta for comment.

“We are taking action against TikTok and its addictive design – endless scrolling, autoplay, and push notifications. The same applies to Meta, because we believe Instagram and Facebook are failing to enforce their own minimum age of 13,” Von der Leyen said.

“We are investigating platforms that allow children to go down ‘rabbit holes’ of harmful content – such as videos that promote eating disorders or self-harm,” she added.

The EU’s executive arm has also developed its own age verification app, which has the “highest privacy standards in the world,” according to Von der Leyen.

Member states will soon be able to integrate it into their digital wallets, and it can easily be enforced by online platforms. “No more excuses – the technology for age-verification is available,” the EU chief said.

The EU Commission could have a legal proposal prepared as soon as the summer, as it awaits the advice and findings of its ‘Special Panel of experts on Child Safety Online.’

U.S. crackdown

The EU has been cracking down on U.S Big Tech in the past year as it enforces legislation aimed at strengthening accountability of the tech giants. A slew of fines has drawn criticism from U.S. officials who have warned the bloc risks missing out on partaking in the AI economy.

U.S. President Donald Trump is combating the penalties against U.S. businesses, which have totalled over $7 billion in the past two years.

Apple, Meta, and Google, are among the companies facing fines over violations of the bloc’s antitrust and competition laws, which they have contested.

Trump signed a memorandum in February that would consider issuing tariffs to “combat digital service taxes (DSTs), fines, practices, and policies that foreign governments levy on American companies.”

Earlier this year, the EU Commission launched an investigation against Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, for the spreading of sexually explicit non-consensual content of women and children generated by its chatbot Grok.

Tracking Europe’s approach to social media bans for teenagers

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The increased legal scrutiny around child safety on social media platforms comes after Meta and YouTube lost a high-profile court ruling in the U.S. in March, which found that design features such as infinite scrolling and autoplay contributed to addiction and mental health harms in teenagers.

More recently, the Commission found that Meta breached the EU’s Digital Services Act by failing to keep under-13s off its platforms, with a preliminary investigation determining that minors are easily able to bypass checks.

Meanwhile, a social ban for under-16s is gaining traction with governments worldwide, after Australia became the first country to enforce a sweeping ban in December. Several European countries including Spain, France, and the U.K., are proposing their own legislation to keep children off social media.

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