The post Dollar surge pressures crypto and gold after escalation in Iran conflict: Crypto Markets Today appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

The crypto market, U.S. equities and precious metals all tumbled on Tuesday as the dollar index (DXY) rose by 0.5% since midnight UTC to its highest level since Jan. 19. The risk-off sentiment comes after escalation in the conflict in Iran, with Israel launching fresh strikes on Tehran and Beirut while the U.S. embassy in Riyadh was hit by two Iranian drones. Gold hit a one-month high of $5,410 on Monday but fell back to $5,260 on Tuesday as investors opt for the dollar as a safe haven. Bitcoin BTC$67,078.46 has been largely correlated with gold this week; rallying on Monday to $70,000 before reverting back to $66,500 – firmly in the middle of a range it has occupied since early February. The altcoin market fared worse than bitcoin, with the likes of ADA, ZEC and DASH losing upwards of 4% since midnight UTC. Derivatives positioning Market dynamics have transitioned into a consolidation phase, with BTC futures open Interest stabilizing at $15.3 billion as the post-leverage cleanup reaches equilibrium. Retail sentiment remains cautiously bullish with funding rates ranging from 0% to 10%, while institutional conviction has softened slightly, marked by the 3-month annualized basis dipping just below 3%. This suggests a firm market floor but a temporary plateau in upside momentum. The options market has shifted from “panic-hedging” to sustained bullishness, with 24 hour call volume surging to a 63/37 split. The 1-week 25-delta skew has cooled to 14% (down from 27%), signaling a sharp drop in the cost of downside protection. Crucially, the implied volatility (IV) term structure has moved into contango, as front-end premiums collapse below the stable 49%–50% seen in longer-dated tenors, indicating that immediate fear has been replaced by mid-term growth expectations. Coinglass data shows $392 million in 24 hour liquidations, with a 50-50 split between…

---

Filed under: News - @ March 3, 2026 1:27 pm