Cryptocurrencies are enjoying gains on Tuesday, driven by a positive shift in market sentiment following the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) announcement of an extraordinary meeting to discuss potential emergency oil reserves release. This easing of concerns regarding a possible oil supply shock has led to an uplift in risk appetite across global markets.
Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a notable surge, climbing above $71,500 for the first time since last Thursday, before settling at approximately $71,300—a 3.2% increase in the past 24 hours. The CoinDesk 20 Index also reflected similar growth, with other cryptocurrencies such as XRP, Dogecoin (DOGE), SUI, and Hyperliquid’s native token (HYPE) showing significant gains among major digital assets.
In the oil market, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude experienced a continuation of its downward trend, dropping to $82 after a weekend spike near $120. The positive sentiment extended to equity markets, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 climbing roughly 0.5% by midday. A number of crypto-related stocks reflected this upward momentum as well; Circle’s stock jumped by 6%—marking almost a 100% rise over the previous two weeks—while BitGo increased over 8% and blockchain firm Figure rallied 12%. Notably, shares of U.K. bitcoin treasury firm Stack BTC soared over 200% following the announcement of Nigel Farage joining the company.
Despite the bullish trends, Bitcoin seems to be gradually decoupling from the software stock ETF (IGV). Over the last 24 hours, BlackRock’s IBIT increased around 3%, in contrast to IGV which fell over 2%. Observing the past five days, IGV showed a slight upward movement of 1.5%, while IBIT declined by around 2%, indicating that IBIT may have some ground to cover if it hopes to reinstate its correlation with software stocks.
This weakening correlation could be significant, potentially positioning Bitcoin as a more independent asset amid macroeconomic uncertainties. It has continued to outperform traditional assets like gold and U.S. equities since the onset of the war.
James Harris, CEO of crypto yield platform Tesseract Group, provided insights into the current state of Bitcoin, describing its recent price action as resilient in light of ongoing macro turbulence. After testing the low $60,000 range, Bitcoin managed to recover, showing strength even while broader markets struggled with geopolitical uncertainties. He noted that ETF inflows remain supportive, and a recent deleveraging in the market has addressed excessive positions in derivatives.
Harris expressed a cautiously optimistic outlook for Bitcoin, suggesting that the mixed factors of depleted sentiment, reduced leverage, and a support level in the $66,000 range may indicate that Bitcoin could be in a bottoming phase. However, he cautioned that downside risks still exist in the fragile crypto market. He stated, “If support in the mid-$60k area fails, we could easily see another test lower, but for now we remain cautiously optimistic on BTC.”
