Bitcoin can’t seem to pick a direction, swinging wildly in the early hours of Wednesday’s US session with dips quickly bought and bounces erased just as quickly.
Losing its overnight surge above $68,500, BTC fell below $67,000 in early US trading. Buyers quickly stepped in, causing a sharp rebound to $68,300, but the rebound proved fleeting and prices quickly fell back to $67,000. Ether (ETH) followed a similar path, falling back below $2,000 and down around 1% over the past 24 hours.
Some of the countercurrents came from traditional markets. On the one hand, a tougher tone on risk assets has occurred as concerns about artificial intelligence disruption in the tech sector have subsided. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV), a bellwether for the software sector that had been under pressure in recent weeks, rebounded 1.9% in morning trading, suggesting some relief.
The broader Nasdaq was up 1.3% and the S&P 500 was up 0.85% >
On the other hand, geopolitical tensions are back as traders increasingly prepare for a possible escalation between the United States and Iran. Traders at prediction market Polymarket now assign a greater than 50% chance that the United States will launch strikes against Iran before March 15, up from around 30% just a day ago.
Gold rose 2.5% to regain the $5,000 level, while silver jumped 6%. U.S. crude oil jumped more than 3% to above $64 a barrel, underscoring heightened supply risks.
Despite the volatile crypto price action, crypto-related stocks have rebounded. Exchange giant Coinbase (COIN), stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL), and digital asset investment firm Galaxy (GLXY) were all up 3-5%.
AI-related miners and data centers such as Riot Platforms (RIOT) and IREN (IREN) further outperformed, each posting gains of 5.5%.
