cautious optimism as BTC holds near $70,000 amid Iran war
The post cautious optimism as BTC holds near $70,000 amid Iran war appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Bitcoin’s resilience during the latest bout of global macro stress is starting to turn heads on trading desks. The largest crypto climbed to just shy of $71,000, up roughly 7% from Sunday evening lows, even as geopolitical tensions escalated over the Iran conflict and markets grappled with risks ranging from oil supply disruptions to stress in private credit markets. That relative strength is beginning to stand out. The Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 have been roughly flat over the same time, while gold — typically a go-to safe haven during turmoil — has booked only modest gains. Looking at performance so far in March, BTC is the only one of the three posting gains. Bitcoin is also showing early signs of breaking away from its tight correlation with embattled software stocks. Over the past five days, BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF (IBIT) is up 3.75%, while the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV) is down 2.45%. The price action is turning analysts cautiously optimistic that the crypto market may finally be stabilizing after months of declines. Seller exhaustion Aurelie Barthere, principal research analyst at Nansen, said one encouraging signal is how little BTC has reacted to fresh geopolitical headlines. Earlier in the week, a brief wave of optimism lifted equities and crypto alongside softer oil prices, suggesting markets were tentatively pricing in a potential de-escalation in the Iran conflict. But as the session progressed, that optimism faded, and risk assets gave back some of their gains. “Bitcoin’s downside sensitivity has been relatively limited,” she said, noting that some traditional benchmarks such as the Euro Stoxx index have fallen more sharply during the same period. That resilience suggests the marginal seller in bitcoin may be less aggressive than in equities, Barthere added. Shifting correlation with gold Another shift catching traders’ attention is bitcoin’s…
Filed under: News - @ March 12, 2026 5:23 am