Bitcoin climbed sharply from Monday’s lows as easing oil prices helped improve global risk sentiment, with Asian equities advancing and crude falling below key levels.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency rose about 7% from Monday’s trough near $66,000, briefly reaching $71,612 on Tuesday evening before easing back to around $70,036 during Wednesday’s Asian trading session.
The rebound came as energy markets cooled. Brent Crude dropped below $90 per barrel for the first time since the conflict in the Middle East began, after plunging roughly 11% in the previous session.
A key trigger was a report by The Wall Street Journal that the International Energy Agency is considering the largest coordinated release of crude reserves in its history. The proposed release would exceed the 182 million barrels that were deployed in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The proposal aims to offset supply disruptions caused by production cuts in the Persian Gulf, which have removed roughly 6% of global oil output since the conflict involving Iran escalated. The supply shock had previously pushed global fuel prices — including jet fuel and cooking gas — sharply higher.
Oil prices have played a crucial role in shaping sentiment across financial markets. Rising crude costs typically fuel inflation concerns, which can delay central bank rate cuts and tighten liquidity conditions — factors that often weigh on risk assets such as cryptocurrencies.
With crude retreating, some of that pressure has eased. Bitcoin was trading near $70,036 on Wednesday morning, up roughly 2.5% on the week. The jump from Monday’s low near $66,000 to Tuesday’s high represented an increase of about 8.5% in just two days, though the overnight pullback trimmed some gains.
“Bitcoin trading above $70,000 suggests buyers are trying to break the market out of consolidation, but it still needs to prove it can sustain that level,” said Daniel Reis-Faria, CEO of ZeroStack.
He noted that market conditions appear somewhat healthier this time, as leverage had cooled prior to the rally.
“The key question now is whether bitcoin can maintain support above $70,000 and build momentum from there, or whether it falls back into the same trading range we’ve seen for weeks,” he added.
Analysts at FxPro also pointed out that bitcoin has been forming a sequence of higher local lows since late February, which could signal growing buyer confidence within the current range.
However, they highlighted $73,000 as the next major resistance level, where last week’s peak aligns with the 50-day moving average.
The broader crypto market remained relatively stable. Ethereum traded near $2,034, down 0.3% on the day but up about 2.8% over the past week. BNB held steady around $643, while XRP rose 0.3% to $1.38, bringing its weekly gain to roughly 1.7%.
Solana edged up 0.2% to $86.42 but remained down 0.8% over the past seven days, making it the weakest performer among the major tokens for the week.
Meanwhile, Dogecoin gained about 1% to $0.093, holding on to some of Tuesday’s rally fueled by comments from Elon Musk.
Investors are now turning their attention to the upcoming meeting of the Federal Reserve scheduled for March 17–18. If oil prices remain below $90 following the IEA’s potential reserve release, concerns about a stagflationary environment could ease.
Bitcoin’s 90-day correlation with the S&P 500 currently stands around 0.78, indicating that the cryptocurrency continues to move closely with broader risk markets — meaning whatever signals the Fed delivers could quickly ripple through the crypto sector.
