Bitcoin rose to a one-month high of about $71,800 as investors increasingly turned toward assets perceived as safe during heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The rally came alongside renewed strength across parts of the altcoin market.
The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization climbed to $71,800, pushing toward the $72,000 mark — a level it last reached on Feb. 8 before retreating to around $65,000. The move comes despite a broader risk-off tone that has limited gains in U.S. equities over the past week.
Traditional haven assets also advanced during the session. Since midnight UTC, gold has gained roughly 1.8% and silver has surged about 5.3%, while bitcoin has risen approximately 4.8% over the same timeframe.
Demand for safer assets has increased as tensions in the Middle East escalate. Israel reported striking multiple security headquarters within Iran, while Iran responded with attacks targeting U.S. sites in Dubai and Qatar. Equity markets, meanwhile, have remained largely unchanged during the same period, underperforming the broader crypto market.
Derivatives markets show growing interest
Activity in crypto derivatives markets suggests traders are building positions as prices rise.
Global crypto futures open interest has increased by about 8% over the past 24 hours to nearly $103 billion. Trading volumes have also climbed, though at a slower pace than open interest, indicating that market participants are adding exposure rather than rapidly trading in and out of positions.
Futures open interest tied to the top 10 cryptocurrencies rose broadly, with dogecoin leading the gains after posting a roughly 10% increase.
Funding rates on perpetual futures and cumulative volume delta across major assets such as bitcoin and ether have turned positive, signaling mounting buying pressure and supporting the recent price rebound.
Meanwhile, 30-day implied volatility for bitcoin and ether options remains steady near levels seen before the Middle East conflict intensified, suggesting that markets have not entered a panic phase.
On the Deribit options exchange, however, put options for both BTC and ETH continue to trade at higher premiums than calls, reflecting persistent demand for downside protection.
The most actively traded option in the past day has been the $125,000 bitcoin call expiring at the end of March. According to Deribit, much of the activity appears to represent traders closing short positions rather than initiating fresh bullish bets.
Large block trades also showed interest in bitcoin call spreads and call ratio spreads, indicating moderately bullish positioning. For ether, traders have been active in both call and put spread strategies.
Altcoins begin to recover
The broader altcoin market is showing early signs of strength after nearly a month of consolidation.
Ether has gained about 5% since midnight UTC, with daily trading volumes holding steady near $25 billion.
Smaller, lower-liquidity tokens have outperformed the larger assets. KITE, AERO and TAO each posted double-digit gains over the past 24 hours, while tokens such as PUMP and DCR rose roughly 6% during the same period.
Market sentiment has also improved modestly. The crypto Fear and Greed Index has climbed from a multi-year low of 5 out of 100 in February to 19 out of 100, suggesting cautious optimism is gradually returning to the market.
Among sector benchmarks, the CoinDesk Computing Select Index was the strongest performer over the past day, rising about 7%, while the bitcoin-weighted CoinDesk 20 Index gained roughly 5% during the same timeframe.
