The cryptocurrency market is beginning to rebound after a weekend crisis that saw Bitcoin fall below $63,000.
As of the time of publication, CoinGecko data shows that Bitcoin (BTC) is up 3.6% on the day and trading at roughly $66,610. It has dropped more than 7% this week, meanwhile, from a weekly high of more over $72,000.
All 20 of the cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation (excluding stablecoins) have increased in value over the last day, indicating that the broader crypto market has rebounded in tandem with the price of Bitcoin. All cryptocurrencies now have a $2.54 trillion market capitalisation, up 4.2%.
Solana (SOL), up 7.9%, is the top cryptocurrency among the top ten. It is closely followed by Ethereum (ETH), up 7.2%, and Toncoin (TON), up 6.8%.
The weekend decline in the cryptocurrency market coincided with broader market turbulence as tensions between Israel and Iran in the Middle East intensified. Whereas more risky assets like cryptocurrencies trended downward, investors flocked to safe-haven assets like gold.
According to Yahoo! Finance data, the spot gold price surged to an annual high of $2,443/oz on Friday in response to expectations of an Iranian strike on Israel. On April 13, the Israeli military intercepted nearly all 300 drones and missiles that Iran had launched during that strike.
The market as a whole seems to have dismissed concerns about a further escalation in the wake of the attacks, with Iran declaring the situation “concluded” and U.S. President Joe Biden pleading with Israel to exercise moderation. In anticipation of Iran’s attack, oil prices fell on Monday after hitting their highest point since October on Friday.
In addition to the general geopolitical tendencies, there will soon be a halving of the block reward on Bitcoin.
A recent analysis from Kaiko Research researchers indicated that “expectations for near-term volatility are rising” following a jump in implied volatility for Bitcoin options earlier in the month. According to Adam McCarthy, an analyst at Kaiko Research, implied volatility rises suggest that market players are less certain about the direction of prices. This belief seems to have been validated over the last few days.
