Leading cryptocurrencies rallied on Thursday, but stocks plunged as the Iran war continued to pressure global energy prices.
Evening Spike For Crypto
Bitcoin hovered sideways most of the day before nearly hitting $72,000 late evening. Trading activity remained tepid.
Likewise, Ethereum spiked to $2,147, while XRP and Dogecoin also recorded notable jumps late in the day.
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.38 trillion, following a modest gain of 0.06% from the previous day.
Over $250 million was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market over the past 24 hours, with short liquidations accounting for the majority, according to Coinglass data.
Open interest in Bitcoin futures spiked 3.84% in the last 24 hours, and over 10% this week. Meanwhile, sentiment among retail and whale traders holding open BTC positions on Binance remained “Neutral.”
“Extreme Fear” sentiment prevailed in the market, according to the Crypto Fear & Greed Index here, despite the uptick.
Top Gainers (24 Hours)
Stocks Tumble, Oil Remains Volatile
Stocks sold-off sharply on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 739.42 points, or 1.56%, to close at 46,677.85. The S&P 500 slid 1.52% to settle at 6,672.62, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.78% to end at 22,311.98.
The West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded down 1% to $94 a barrel as Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, declared in his first public address that the Strait of Hormuz must remain closed as a pressure tactic, according to Reuters.
Goldman Sachs described the ongoing disruption as the largest oil supply shock on record, predicting that prices could exceed $145 per barrel if Strait flows remain at current levels through the end of March.
No Clean Reversal For BTC
Blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant highlighted that both short- and long-term holders of Bitcoin have started selling at losses.
“Short-term demand does not yet appear strong enough to support a clean reversal,” CryptoQuant added. “At this stage, the market still looks closer to a resistance test than a true bullish trend change.”
Meanwhile, as bear market and bottom discussions raged on, top cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martinez shared his take on Bitcoin’s upcoming bull run.
“Bitcoin could reach $178,000–$273,000 in the next bull run,” Martinez said, citing Cumulative Value Days Destroyed channel chart.
The indicator tracks the dollar value of long-term holders’ capitulation i.e, old BTC changing hands and creates an upward-sloping support line during bear markets. It is used for identifying price bottoms.
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