Bitcoin slips below $69,000 as oil rebounds on fading Middle East peace hopes

Crypto prices and risk assets remain at the mercy of macro headlines for now, one analyst said.

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What to know:

• Bitcoin slipped more than 3% Thursday with ETH, XRP, SOL, ADA losing 4%-5% as fading hopes of Middle East de-escalation weighed on risk sentiment.
• Rising crude oil prices remain in the spotlight as macro headlines drive markets for now, an analyst warns.
• Crypto stocks COIN, CRCL, and MSTR were down 3%-4%, with miners tied to AI infrastructure nursing steeper losses.

Bitcoin BTC$68,877.41 slipped below $69,000 on Thursday as a broader pullback in risk assets gathered pace, with early optimism around Iran-U.S. peace and easing Middle East tensions fading.

The largest crypto lost more than 3% from its overnight high above $71,000, while major altcoins ether (ETH), XRP (XRP), Solana's SOL (SOL) and Cardano's ADA (ADA) plunged 4%-5% during the same period.

Oil prices remain the barometer for the broader market. Crude oil futures rose about 4%, reversing earlier declines and reinforcing concerns about inflation and supply disruptions tied to the Iran conflict.

U.S. stocks were at session lows just after noon on the East Coast, led by the Nasdaq's 1.4% decline. Bond yields were sharply higher: the U.S. 10-year Treasury up 7 basis points to 4.40%, and the 10-year German Bund up 10.5 basis points to 3.06%.

Notably, all Magnificent Seven stocks are now all off double digit percentages from their all-time highs, with NVIDIA (NVDA) down 18%, Meta (META) 30%, Amazon (AMZN) 20%, Alphabet (GOOG) 19%, Microsoft (MSFT) 34%, Tesla (TSLA) 25% and Apple (APPL) down 14%.

"Looking ahead, the near-term trajectory will likely remain tied to macro developments," said Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group.

A clearer path toward de-escalation could push risk assets, including bitcoin, higher, he said, while continued uncertainty may leave them stuck in a choppy range.

Crypto-related stocks were posting major losses as well: Coinbase (COIN), Circle (CRCL) and Strategy (MSTR) were down 3%-4%.

The sharpest losses came from bitcoin miners, nearly all of which are either in transition or have fully transitioned to being AI infrastructure plays and thus tied more to tech in general rather than crypto prices. Hut 8 (HUT) dropped 8.6%, while IREN (IREN) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) fell more than 7%. TeraWulf (WULF) and HIVE Digital (HIVE) also posted steep declines.

WhiteFiber (WYFI) shares fell 14% after its fourth quarter results showed worsening fundamentals, with a net loss widening to $1.5 million and a full-year loss of $24.7 million. The parent company of WhiteFiber, Bit Digital (BTBT), saw its shares down around 8%.

A few names bucked the trend, though. MARA Holdings (MARA) was up 8.7% after reporting the sale of $1.1 billion in bitcoin to pay down debt.

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The bank said institutional unwinding and weakening liquidity have hit precious metals, while bitcoin shows steadier flows and improving momentum amid geopolitical stress.

What to know:

• JPMorgan said gold and silver prices have dropped sharply as ETF outflows and profit-taking accelerate.
• Bitcoin has seen net inflows and stabilizing momentum, outperforming metals on a relative basis.
• Liquidity in gold has deteriorated below bitcoin, while silver market depth has weakened further, the bank said.

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