By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless otherwise noted)
Bitcoin and the broader crypto market pushes higher despite the geopolitical whiplash. While the resistance is impressive, a bullish trend change requires a firm move above $75,000.
On Monday, President Donald Trump revealed a five-day delay in striking Iran and claimed that negotiations are underway. That calmed the markets and lifted bitcoin to over $71,000. The optimism did not last long. Iran quickly rejected negotiations and Israel continued its attacks on the country, which responded by attacking Tel Aviv overnight.
Still, bitcoin held steady and looks set to extend yesterday’s 4.47% gain, the biggest since March 4. Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP) and solana (SOL) follow BTC’s lead as usual, along with a 24-hour jump of 4% in the CoinDesk 20 index.
While the rise is encouraging for bulls, the real test will be around $75,000, which has been a major turning point at least twice in the last 12 months. The March-April 2025 slide ran out of steam around $75,000, while the early 2024 rally met resistance there. Furthermore, $75,000 corresponds to important Fibonacci retracement levels.
“Although the leading cryptocurrency did not immediately capitalize on the upward momentum and extend its gains, simply staying at these high levels now suggests confidence among the bulls. They are gradually developing a more optimistic view,” Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, said in an email.
“However, it would be premature to declare the end of the downtrend until prices fall above $75,000, where the March pivots and 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level from the January-February decline are concentrated.”
In other words, a convincing move above $75,000 would confirm a bull revival. Solana’s SOL token, which trades near $90, could then emerge as a star player.
“Sol is the brighter spot. Close to $91, it shows that risk appetite is not dead. The angle on the institutional privacy framework matters in the long term because it’s about making Sol tradable for larger pools of capital, not just faster for retail,” said Marex’s research team, led by crypto trading analyst Louis De Backer.
Meanwhile, demand from crypto investors for traditional assets is pushing exchanges to expand their offerings, with a race underway to launch 24/7 perpetual futures. Today, OKX announced the launch of more than 20 perpetual equity swaps, giving traders around-the-clock exposure to some of the world’s most popular stocks.
In traditional markets, the focus remains on volatility in US Treasury yields, which may limit the upside of risk assets in the short term. Over time, sustained volatility could prompt intervention by the Federal Reserve, potentially setting the stage for a stronger risk environment. Pay attention!
Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today
What to see
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Crypto
- Macro
- 24 March at 8.15am: US ADP Weekly Change in Employment Effort (Prev 9K)
- 24 March at 9:45am: US S&P Global Composite PMI Flash for March (prev 51.9); Manufacturing PMI (previously 51.6); Services PMI (previous 51.7)
- 24 March at 6:30 p.m.: Fed Governor Michael Barr speaking on “Economic Outlook and Community Development” at the National Community Investment Conference, Phoenix
- Earnings (Estimated based on FactSet data)
- March 24: GameStop (GME), post-market, $0.31
Token Events
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Governance votes and calls
- StakeDAO’s sdSPECTRA votes on the Spectra measurement weight allocation for the period March 26 to April 1, 2026. Voting ends March 24.
- March 24: Axie Infinity will be hosting a Lunacian lounge with updates on what’s ahead for the ecosystem.
- Unlocks
- The token is launched
Conferences
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
Market movements
- BTC is up 0.57% as of 16 ET Wednesday at $71,224.20 (24 hours: +4.30%)
- ETH is unchanged at $2,159.68 (24 hours: +5.85%)
- CoinDesk 20 is up 0.34% to 2,046.50 (24 hours: +4.15%)
- Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is down 2 bps to 2.81%
- BTC funding rate is at 0.0063% (6.8602% annualized) on Binance
- DXY is up 0.34% to 99.29
- Gold futures are up 0.28% at $4,416.60
- Silver futures are up 1.44% at $70.04
- The Nikkei 225 closed up 1.43% at 52,252.28
- The Hang Seng closed up 2.79% to 25,063.71
- The FTSE 100 is down 0.20% at 9,874.59
- The Euro Stoxx 50 is down 0.47% to 5,548.16
- The DJIA closed Monday up 1.38% at 46,208.47
- The S&P 500 closed up 1.15% at 6,581.00
- The Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.38% at 21,946.76
- The S&P/TSX Composite closed up 1.81% at 31,883.81
- The S&P 40 Latin America closed up 2.07% at 3,222.70
- The US 10-year Treasury yield is down 6 bps to 4.33%
- E-mini S&P 500 futures are down 0.18% at 6,623.00
- E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are down 0.10% at 24,383.75
- E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 0.23% at 46,415.00
Bitcoin statistics
- BTC Dominance: 59.12% (0.07%)
- Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.03033 (-0.06%)
- Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 983 EH/s
- Hash price (spot): $33.61
- Total fees: 2.45 BTC / $171,175
- CME Futures open interest: 116,490 BTC
- BTC priced in gold: 16.1 oz.
- BTC vs Gold Market Cap: 4.75%
Technical Analysis
- The chart shows ether’s daily price fluctuations in candlestick format since May 2025.
- The ETH price appears to be stuck in a choppy back-and-forth trading range within a broader bearish trend.
- A potential move past $2,440 would confirm a double breakout, signaling a bullish shift.
Crypto stocks
- Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN): closed Monday at $200.62 (+1.58%), +0.78% at $202.18 in premarket
- Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $21.70 (+4.73%), +0.28% at $21.76
- MARA Holdings, Inc. (MARA): closed at $8.91 (+5.32%), +0.56% at $8.96
- Riot Platforms, Inc. (RIOT): closed at $14.37 (+7.40%), +0.42% at $14.43
- Core Scientific, Inc. (CORZ): closed at $16.58 (+4.87%), -0.18% at $16.55
- CleanSpark, Inc. (CLSK): closed at $9.98 (+6.17%), +0.50% at $10.03
- Exodus Movement, Inc. (EXOD): closed at $8.12 (+10.03%), unchanged in the pre-market
- CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF (WGMI): closed at $39.40 (+4.56%), +0.15% at $39.46
- Circle Internet Group (CRCL): closed at $126.64 (+0.48%), -0.39% at $126.15
- Bullish (BLSH): closed at $39.55 (+4.16%), -0.96% at $39.17
Crypto Treasury Companies
- Strategy (MSTR): closed at $138.20 (+1.87%), +0.61% at $139.04
- Strive Asset Management, LLC (ASST): closed at $10.44 (+4.19%), -0.48% at $10.39
- Sharplink, Inc. (SBET): closed at $7.51 (+1.49%), unchanged in the pre-market
- Upexi, Inc. (UPXI): closed at $1.17 (+10.38%), +0.85% at $1.18
- Lite Strategy, Inc. (LITS): closed at $1.18 (+0.85%)
ETF Flows
Spot BTC ETFs
- Daily net flows: $167.2 million
- Cumulative net flows: $56.38 billion
- Total BTC holdings ~1.29m
Spot ETH ETFs
- Daily net flows: -$16.2 million
- Cumulative net flows: $11.74 billion
- Total ETH holding ~5.8 million
Source: Farside Investors
