Bitcoin climbed to a one-month high near $71,800 as investors shifted toward perceived safe-haven assets amid intensifying tensions in the Middle East, while altcoins also showed renewed momentum.
The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization rallied to $71,800, overcoming the risk-off sentiment that has weighed on U.S. equities over the past week. Prices briefly approached the $72,000 mark, a level last seen on Feb. 8 before bitcoin slipped back to roughly $65,000.
Traditional haven assets also advanced during the session. Gold rose about 1.8% and silver jumped roughly 5.3% since midnight UTC on Wednesday, while bitcoin gained approximately 4.8% during the same period.
The move into haven assets comes as geopolitical tensions escalate. Israel reported striking several security headquarters inside Iran, while Iran launched attacks targeting U.S. sites in Dubai and Qatar. Equity markets, meanwhile, have remained largely flat since midnight, trailing the broader crypto market’s gains.
Derivatives market signals
Activity in the crypto derivatives market suggests traders are increasing exposure as prices rise.
Global crypto futures open interest climbed roughly 8% over the past 24 hours to nearly $103 billion. Trading volumes also increased, though at a slower pace than open interest, indicating traders are adding positions rather than rapidly rotating in and out of trades.
Open interest in futures tied to the top 10 cryptocurrencies also increased, with dogecoin recording the largest jump at about 10%.
Funding rates for perpetual futures and cumulative volume delta across major cryptocurrencies — including bitcoin and ether — have turned positive, signaling growing buying pressure and reinforcing the case for continued recovery.
Options markets, however, show a more cautious tone. The 30-day implied volatility indexes for bitcoin and ether remain near levels seen before the Middle East conflict escalated, suggesting the market is not experiencing panic.
On the Deribit exchange, put options for both BTC and ETH continue to trade at higher premiums than calls, reflecting lingering hedging against potential downside.
The most actively traded option in the past 24 hours has been the $125,000 bitcoin call expiring at the end of March. According to Deribit, much of that activity appears to involve traders closing existing short positions rather than opening new bullish bets.
Large block trades showed demand for bitcoin call spreads and call ratio spreads, pointing to moderate bullish sentiment. For ether, traders were active in both call and put spreads.
Altcoins regain strength
The broader altcoin market is also beginning to show signs of renewed momentum after nearly a month of consolidation.
Ether has climbed around 5% since midnight UTC, with daily trading volumes remaining steady near $25 billion.
Smaller, lower-liquidity tokens have outperformed the majors. KITE, AERO and TAO each posted double-digit gains over the past 24 hours, while tokens such as PUMP and DCR rose about 6% during the same timeframe.
Market sentiment has improved slightly as well. The crypto Fear and Greed Index has recovered from a multi-year low of 5/100 in February to 19/100, suggesting cautious optimism is beginning to return.
Among sector benchmarks, the CoinDesk Computing Select Index delivered the strongest performance over the past day, rising about 7%, while the bitcoin-weighted CoinDesk 20 Index gained roughly 5% over the same period.
