Bitcoin has finally walked through the door.
The largest cryptocurrency surpassed $72,000 on Thursday, its highest level since before the Feb. 5 crash and the first clear move above the $70,000 cap that had rejected it three times in the past month.
It was trading at $72,180 on Thursday afternoon in Asia, up 5.9% in the past 24 hours and 5.4% for the week, as the combination of easing war-related anxiety, strong ETF flows and a broader rebound in stocks brought risk appetite back into the market.
The rally was broad. Ether climbed 7.5% to $2,114, reclaiming $2,000 with conviction for the first time since late February. Dogecoin jumped 7.5% to $0.095. Solana added 5.3% to $89.91. XRP rose 4.2% to $1.41 and BNB gained 3% to $650. WhiteBIT Coin jumped 5.6%. The only notable laggard was Tron, up just 1.4%.
The trigger was a change in global risk sentiment. Asian stocks rebounded for the first time since the start of the Iran war, with South Korea’s benchmark index jumping 11% after its biggest drop on record in the previous session.
Wall Street led the way after economic data eased inflation fears, although the recovery appeared tepid with U.S. and European futures slightly lower Thursday morning.
The conflict itself, however, remains unresolved. Tehran still targets Israel and the Gulf States. US and Israeli forces continued to strike Iran, including sinking an Iranian warship in international waters. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said operations could last “six, eight, maybe three” weeks. Trump said that “we are doing very well on the war front” and that the United States has “great support.”
But markets overcame the initial shock and moved into pricing mode. The situation in the Strait of Hormuz appears to be stabilizing thanks to ongoing American tanker escorts. Oil has reduced its peak from the beginning of the week.
And the worst-case scenario of uncontrolled regional escalation seems less and less likely as the days pass without a dramatic escalation of the conflict.
