Bitcoin’s Skyward Jaunt: A Tale of War, Waffles, and Wads of Cash

What ho, old sport! Here’s the lowdown:

In this dashed exciting article

BTCBTC$70,652.84◢4.85%

By Omkar Godbole (All times ET, what?) unless otherwise indicated, I say.

Well, I’ll be jiggered! Bitcoin, that old rascal, has gone and climbed to just shy of $72,000, hitting a one-month high and giving the crypto market a bit of a pep in its step, even as the Middle East goes all pear-shaped and traditional markets take a tumble. Dashed sporting of it, what?

The reason for this spiffing performance? A spot of relative positioning, the looming Clarity Act (which sounds like something Bertie Wooster would muddle up), and the faint hope that the chap in Iran might call it a day soon. Capital idea, that.

Bitcoin, poor old bean, was down nearly 50% from its record high in October, looking as oversold as a chap caught in a rainstorm without his umbrella. But while traditional assets were taking a bath, BTC held its ground like a stalwart fellow at a dull dinner party. This, my dear reader, has likely revived investor interest, drawing institutions back to the spot ETFs like moths to a flame.

As noted on Monday, Bitcoin stands to gain because this war business will only make government finances look as tidy as Aunt Agatha’s drawing room after a party. More “fiat debasement,” they say. Sounds like something Gussie Fink-Nottle would get into.

Meanwhile, the New York Times-those old busybodies-put out a report that likely gave the price a bit of a bounce. Apparently, the day after the attacks began, some chaps from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence rang up the CIA to chat about terms for ending the war. The Yanks ignored them, of course, but it suggests backchannels are still open, like a secret door in a country house. Could lead to a ceasefire, what?

Lastly, there’s the possibility the Clarity Act could be passed soon. Paul Howard, director at trading firm Wincent, chimed in with his two cents: “There was speculation circulating in the U.S. that the Clarity Act was close to being signed into law. This helped lift many altcoins relative to major assets, as they are expected to be among the biggest long-term beneficiaries of the legislation.” Jolly good show, Paul, but don’t go counting your chickens just yet.

However, he added-and here’s the rub-there’s no strong evidence that a large pool of sidelined money is waiting to flood into digital assets. Any rotation is still relatively small or gradual. Slow and steady, like Jeeves bringing me my morning tea.

Looking ahead, traders expect volatility to persist, particularly if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and oil prices continue to surge. “We expect continued volatility, but if the disruption persists, pressure to reopen Hormuz is likely to build. Bitcoin has held up better than broader risk, and bears watching as an early signal of stabilizing sentiment,” QCP Capital’s market insight team said. Stay alert, old bean!

What to Watch

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”. Dash it all, they’ve thought of everything.

Token Events

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.

Conferences

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.

Day 1 of 3: Quant 2026 (Varese, Italy). Sounds like a spiffing time, what?

Market Movements

BTC is up 4.49% from 4 p.m. ET Wednesday at $71,283.58 (24hrs: +6.65%). Toodle pip!
ETH is up 5.19% at $2,068.65 (24hrs: +5.64%). Not too shabby.
CoinDesk 20 is up 4.31% at 3,086.55 (24hrs: +5.45%). Capital!
Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is down 1 bps at 2.85%. Steady on.
BTC funding rate is at 0.0051% (5.6119% annualized) on Binance. Bit of a mouthful, that.

DXY is down 0.25% at 98.81. Bit of a dip, there.
Gold futures are up 1.70% at $5,194.10. Shiny stuff, gold.
Silver futures are up 4.00% at $86.24. Not to be outdone, old silver.
Nikkei 225 closed down 3.61% at 54,245.54. Bit of a tumble, that.
Hang Seng closed down 2.01% at 25,249.48. Steady on, old chap.
FTSE 100 is up 0.18% at 10,502.97. Not too bad, what?
Euro Stoxx 50 is up 0.70% at 5,812.08. Jolly good show.
DJIA closed on Tuesday down 0.83% at 48,501.27. Bit of a wobble.
S&P 500 closed down 0.94% at 6,816.63. Steady does it.
Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.02% at 22,516.69. Not the best day, eh?
S&P/TSX Composite closed down 2.19% at 33,784.90. Dash it all.
S&P 40 Latin America closed down 4.95% at 3,539.33. Bit of a rough one.
U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate is up 1 bps at 4.06%. Steady as she goes.
E-mini S&P 500 futures are unchanged at 6,825.00. Holding steady.
E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are unchanged at 24,762.00. Not a peep.
E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 0.12% at 48,501.00. Bit of a dip, there.

Bitcoin Stats

BTC Dominance: 59.61% (+0.81%). Top dog, that.
Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.02909 (0.26%). Not too shabby.
Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 1,025 EH/s. Dashed impressive.
Hashprice (spot): $31.26. Capital!
Total fees: 2.71 BTC / $183,733. Not too bad, what?
CME Futures Open Interest: 101,620 BTC. Jolly good show.
BTC priced in gold: 13.7 oz. Shiny stuff, that.
BTC vs gold market cap: 4.77%. Not too shabby.

Technical Analysis

The chart shows bitcoin’s weekly price swings in candlestick format from early 2024. Dashed complicated, that.
The bounce above $71,000 has renewed focus on the $74,000 level, which acted as resistance, an area where buyers tapped out in March 2024 and later as support, where selling stalled last April. Bit of a mouthful, eh?
This level, therefore, represents an area of significant historical economic activity and could now serve as a key inflection zone: A break and hold above $74,000 may open the door to a push toward higher levels, while repeated failure there could reignite selling pressure. Capital idea, that.

Crypto Equities

Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on Tuesday at $182.36 (-1.55%), +6.66% at $194.51 in pre-market. Toodle pip!
Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $20.68 (-4.83%), +4.01% at $21.51. Not too bad.
MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $8.66 (-8.36%), +6.47% at $9.22. Steady on.
Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $15.29 (-6.94%), +3.53% at $15.83. Capital!
Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $15.30 (-7.22%), +2.55% at $15.69. Jolly good show.
CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $9.89 (-6.26%), +4.25% at $10.31. Not too shabby.
Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $10.83 (+3.44%), +0.65% at $10.90. Dashed spiffing.
CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF (WGMI): closed at $37.88 (-6.31%), +4.67% at $39.65. Capital idea.
Circle Internet Group (CRCL): closed at $99.63 (+3.63%), +6.15% at $105.76. Toodle pip!
Bullish (BLSH): closed at $33.12 (-2.04%), +2.93% at $34.09. Not too bad, what?

Crypto Treasury Companies

Strategy (MSTR): closed at $132.68 (-3.61%), +7.70% at $142.89. Jolly good show.
Upexi (UPXI): closed at $0.79 (-10.80%), +14.65% at $0.90. Capital!
Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.15 (+2.68%). Not too shabby.
Sharplink (SBET): closed at $7.26 (-1.76%), +4.68% at $7.60. Dashed spiffing.

ETF Flows

Spot BTC ETFs

Daily net flows: $225.2 million. Capital!
Cumulative net flows: $55.47 billion. Toodle pip!
Total BTC holdings ~1.28 million. Jolly good show.

Spot ETH ETFs

Daily net flows: -$10.8 million. Bit of a dip, there.
Cumulative net flows: $11.66 billion. Not too bad.
Total ETH holdings ~5.71 million. Capital idea.

2026-03-04 15:33