Bitcoin rose above $71,500 on Friday, outperforming U.S. stocks even as the dollar strengthened and oil prices remained high as the war with Iran entered its third week.
A stronger dollar can tighten global financial conditions and often weighs on risk assets such as stocks and cryptocurrencies. Higher oil prices – both Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate are hovering around $100 per barrel. barrel – amplifies inflation concerns and increases expectations of interest rate increases. Higher rates also reduce the attractiveness of such investments.
Despite these macro and geopolitical pressures, including the conflict in the Middle East, bitcoin has remained resilient and is among the best performing macro assets since the war began on March 1. Historically, Fridays during this period have seen the largest cryptocurrency fall around 3%, a pattern that has not been repeated until today.
The dollar index (DXY), which measures the strength of the US currency against a basket of major global currencies, topped 100 for the first time since late November. US Treasury yields are also rising, with the benchmark 10-year bond yield rising above 4.2%, reflecting tighter financial conditions and higher borrowing costs.
Meanwhile, Invesco QQQ Trust ( QQQ ), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the Nasdaq 100 index, was little changed.
In crypto-linked stocks, Strategy ( MSTR ), the largest publicly traded company owner of bitcoin, added 1% before the start of official trading. The company has acquired around 11,000 BTC this week using the proceeds of its perpetual preferred security stretch (STRC).
Today is the ex-dividend date for STRC, meaning it has fallen slightly below its par value of $100 to around $99.50.
Meanwhile, AI bitcoin miners like IREN (IREN) and Cipher Digital (CIFR) opened slightly lower, while crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) added about 2%.
