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Bitcoin falls beneath $69,000 as oil prices rise amid diminishing expectations for Middle East peace.
According to one analyst, crypto prices and risk assets currently remain influenced by macroeconomic news.
Bitcoin (BTC) price on March 26 (CoinDesk)
Key points:
- On Thursday, Bitcoin decreased by over 3%, while ETH, XRP, SOL, and ADA experienced declines of 4%-5% as waning optimism regarding Middle East de-escalation impacted risk sentiment.
- Increasing crude oil prices remain in focus, as macroeconomic news currently influences markets, an analyst cautioned.
- Crypto stocks such as COIN, CRCL, and MSTR fell by 3%-4%, with miners associated with AI infrastructure facing more significant losses.
Bitcoin dropped below $69,000 on Thursday as a broader decline in risk assets gained momentum, with initial optimism around Iran-U.S. relations and reducing Middle East tensions diminishing.
The leading cryptocurrency fell more than 3% from its previous peak above $71,000, while significant altcoins such as ether (ETH), XRP (XRP), Solana’s SOL (SOL), and Cardano’s ADA (ADA) fell 4%-5% in the same timeframe.
Oil prices continue to serve as a gauge for the wider market. Crude oil futures increased by approximately 4%, reversing earlier declines and heightening concerns regarding inflation and supply disruptions linked to the Iran conflict.
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U.S. stocks reached session lows shortly after noon on the East Coast, with the Nasdaq leading the decline at 1.4%. Bond yields also saw a significant rise: the U.S. 10-year Treasury increased by 7 basis points to 4.40%, and the 10-year German Bund rose by 10.5 basis points to 3.06%.
Importantly, all Magnificent Seven stocks have now dropped double-digit percentages from their peak values, with NVIDIA (NVDA) down 18%, Meta (META) 30%, Amazon (AMZN) 20%, Alphabet (GOOG) 19%, Microsoft (MSFT) 34%, Tesla (TSLA) 25%, and Apple (APPL) down 14%.
"In the near term, the trajectory is expected to closely follow macroeconomic developments," stated Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group.
A clearer resolution towards de-escalation could potentially lift risk assets, including bitcoin, he noted, while ongoing uncertainty may keep them within a volatile range.
Crypto stocks are experiencing significant declines as well: Coinbase (COIN), Circle (CRCL), and Strategy (MSTR) were down 3%-4%.
The most considerable losses were seen in bitcoin miners, nearly all of which are either transitioning or have fully transitioned to AI infrastructure roles, thereby linking them more closely to technology rather than crypto prices. Hut 8 (HUT) fell by 8.6%, while IREN (IREN) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) decreased by over 7%. TeraWulf (WULF) and HIVE Digital (HIVE) also recorded considerable drops.
WhiteFiber (WYFI) shares declined by 14% following its fourth-quarter results, which revealed worsening fundamentals, with a net loss expanding to $1.5 million and a total annual loss of $24.7 million. The parent company of WhiteFiber, Bit Digital (BTBT), experienced an approximate 8% decline in its shares.
However, a few companies did manage to defy the trend. MARA Holdings (MARA) increased by 8.7% after announcing the sale of $1.1 billion in bitcoin to reduce debt.
