Bitcoin topped $71,500 on Friday, outperforming U.S. stocks even as the dollar strengthened and oil prices remained high as the war with Iran was about to enter its third week.
A stronger dollar can tighten global financial conditions and often weighs on risky assets such as stocks and cryptocurrencies. Rising oil prices – Brent and West Texas Intermediate are hovering around $100 a barrel – are reinforcing fears of inflation and expectations of rising interest rates. Higher rates also undermine the attractiveness of such investments.
Despite these macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures, including the conflict in the Middle East, bitcoin has remained resilient and has been among the best performing macroeconomic assets since the war began on March 1. Historically, Fridays during this period have seen the largest cryptocurrency fall by around 3%, a trend that has not been repeated until now.
The dollar index (DXY), which measures the strength of the U.S. currency against a basket of major world currencies, rose above the 100 mark for the first time since late November. U.S. Treasury yields are also rising, with the benchmark 10-year bond yield topping 4.2%, reflecting tightening financial conditions and rising borrowing costs.
The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the Nasdaq 100 Index, meanwhile, has changed little recently.
In crypto-related stocks, Strategy (MSTR), the largest publicly traded company holding Bitcoin, added 1% before the start of official trading. The company acquired approximately 11,000 BTC this week through proceeds from its favorite perpetual security program Stretch (STRC).
Today marks the ex-dividend date for STRC, meaning it fell slightly below its par value of $100 to around $99.50.
Meanwhile, AI-repurposed Bitcoin miners such as IREN (IREN) and Cipher Digital (CIFR) opened slightly lower, while crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) added around 2%.
