Bitcoin held above $76,000 on Monday, rebounding from overnight lows as the broader crypto market remained steady despite Iran war risks.
The largest cryptocurrency has climbed about 2.4% over the past 24 hours, recovering from a fall below $74,000 earlier in the session. Ether (ETH),
This resilience is part of a fragile macroeconomic context. US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that US forces had fired on and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, warning of further escalation as Tehran refuses to reach a deal. A fragile ceasefire is set to expire later this week.
Oil prices jumped 6% to near $90, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq retreated slightly, down about 0.3% to 0.4%.
Crypto stocks were mixed. Coinbase (COIN) and cash firm Bitcoin Strategy (MSTR) gained around 2%, while Circle (CRCL) and cash firm Ether Bitmine (BMNR) edged down 1-2%.
“The fact that prices have not fully retraced despite further tensions suggests real demand,” said Jasper De Maere, a trader at Wintermute, pointing to recent spot ETF inflows as a supporting factor. Unlike previous rebounds this year, he said, the current move appears less driven by debt.
That said, the path forward remains linked to geopolitics. A new ceasefire could send Bitcoin back towards $80,000, while further escalation could keep markets under pressure.
For now, capital continues to focus on large-cap assets like bitcoin, De Maere noted, with riskier altcoins lagging, a typical trend in market environments driven by macro headlines.
DeFi comes back from $292M KelpDAO hack
Other than the current price action, tensions are still high in the DeFi sector following the biggest crypto exploit of the year.
The $292 million KelpDAO hack spread across the market as a vulnerability allowed the attacker to drain funds that were then used as collateral in lending protocols.
Since these assets have been widely integrated into DeFi, the impact has spread quickly, with users rushing to withdraw funds for fear of bad debts and contagion.
The total value locked (TVL) on DeFi protocols fell by $14 billion over the past two days, according to data from DefiLlama, even as asset prices remained stable.
DeFi TVL fell to around $85 billion, its lowest level in a year and around 50% below October highs. Aave, the largest lending protocol that played a central role in the exploit, saw around $10 billion in deposits withdrawn.
“There is a huge risk-reward imbalance in DeFi,” said David Shuttleworth of the Anchorage Digital protocol team. “Users will no longer accept the slightly higher (and sometimes lower) risk-free rate they get by depositing into lending pools,” especially given the latest wave of exploits across protocols.
Read more: ‘DeFi is dead’: Crypto community scrambles after biggest hack this year reveals risk of contagion
