Bitcoin climbs in Asia as other markets remain tepid

2026-03-16 - 05:54

Historically speculative, Bitcoin has exhibited macro hedge characteristics over the past two weeks amid geopolitical uncertainty. (EPA Images pic) SINGAPORE: Bitcoin trading picked up again on Monday as traders continued to grapple with uncertainty over conditions in the Middle East. The original cryptocurrency was up as much as 3.7% to more than US$74,400, with other digital assets seeing even greater gains. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, jumped as much as 6.9%, while Solana and XRP rose as much as 6.1% and 4.7%, respectively. Bitcoin has weathered the war with Iran, which broke out at the end of February, better than many traditional assets. Gold is down 4.9% this month, while Bitcoin is up 12.5%. “Crypto has been in a bullish mood over the past week despite geopolitical uncertainty,” said Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets. “A break through US$75,000 now appears very possible, as both retail and strategic buyers feel the worst of the crypto drawdown is behind us.” Inflows to exchange-traded funds suggest a return of institutional confidence. Net flows for the 12 US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs topped US$763 million last week, a third consecutive week of inflows. So far for March, total net inflows are US$1.3 billion. “BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for roughly 78% of those flows, a concentration that reflects conviction buying rather than speculative rotation,” said Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets. While historically serving as a speculative bet, Bitcoin for the past two weeks has been behaving more like a macro hedge during a period of geopolitical stress. As Bitcoin spiked on Monday, crude oil was paring gains from earlier in the day after US president Donald Trump called on nations to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical trade waterway. Jeff Mei, chief operating officer at BTSE, also pointed to Iran’s comments that the strait was only shut to ships from “enemies,” suggesting only American and Israeli ships would be threatened. “If the conflict looks as if it’s drawing to an end, Bitcoin could very easily recover quickly and retrace back towards the US$100,000 mark,” Mei said. “If the conflict is likely to drag on, Bitcoin could dip back towards the US$60,000 mark.”