Bitcoin advanced along with global markets after President Donald Trump signaled the US war on Iran could be ending soon.
The original cryptocurrency rose as much as 3.4% to $69,523 in New York, with smaller tokens like Ether and Solana gaining as well. Trump told CBS News Monday in a phone interview that the operation was ahead of schedule as he confronted mounting pressures on the 10th day of the Iran war with oil prices surging past $100. Trump is set to hold a press conference Monday evening.
Markets have been rocked as the war showed no signs of easing, with a standstill of tanker traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz choking off supplies to the rest of the world.
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“Bitcoin's resilient price action is due in part to persistent buying” from investors such as digital asset treasuries, said Joshua Lim, global co-head of markets at FalconX. And also in part to “de-grossing from tradfi market participants closing out short exposure in Bitcoin.”
Earlier Monday, Bitcoin was outperforming equities as the spike in oil prices prompted some advocates to tout the digital asset as a potential inflation hedge.
“Oil's rally and the inflation concerns it raises have put Bitcoin's hedge credentials back in focus,” said Jake Ostrovskis, head of over-the-counter trading at Wintermute. “What's notable here isn't just the macro backdrop - it's that Bitcoin held firm and moved higher at a moment when most traders expected the opposite. That kind of price behavior, holding strength against a risk-off catalyst, is exactly what tends to attract attention from investors reconsidering their inflation play book.”
Bitcoin backers have long argued the token can act as a hedge against rising consumer prices because its supply is capped, meaning it can't be devalued by a government or central bank. But the cryptocurrency has often traded in line with equities, raising questions about that narrative during past bouts of market stress.
So far this month, Bitcoin has outperformed gold, which is widely recognized as an inflation hedge. Since the day before strikes, gold has fallen around 3%, while Bitcoin is up more than 5% in the same period. Until last week, the trend in recent months had largely been the opposite, as bullion repeatedly hit record prices while Bitcoin tumbled.
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Many traders appear to be pessimistic about a sustained crypto advance. US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have seen nearly $6 billion in net outflows since November, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, with flows turning negative again at the end of last week.
“Volatility in cryptocurrencies decreased significantly in the second half of the week, unlike in traditional financial markets,” Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, said in a note. “Cryptocurrencies did not emerge as a safe haven; instead, they found only a temporary balance between opposing forces.”
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