Bitcoin Breakout Above $74K Lifts Crypto and Stocks as Oil Retreats
Crypto markets and U.S. equities started the week higher as easing tensions around the Strait of Hormuz helped push oil prices lower and improve overall risk sentiment.
Bitcoin surged past $74,000, reaching an intraday high of about $74,500—its strongest level since early February—and gaining roughly 3.9% over the past 24 hours. The move marks a clear breakout from a six-week trading range, boosting confidence across digital assets and driving flows into smaller, higher-risk tokens.
U.S. equities also rebounded, with the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 both climbing more than 1% in early trading after recent declines.
Oil prices, which have been a key driver of recent volatility, fell about 4% on Monday after briefly exceeding $100 per barrel over the weekend following Iranian strikes on energy infrastructure.
The pullback comes as geopolitical tensions appear to ease slightly. Donald Trump called for coordinated efforts to secure the shipping corridor, while reports indicated some tankers had resumed passing through the strait, easing fears of major supply disruptions.
Crypto-related stocks also moved higher, with Circle up around 6%, while Strategy and Coinbase gained roughly 5% and 3%, respectively.
AI Deal Boosts Mining Stocks and Infrastructure Names
In parallel, Nebius announced a major agreement with Meta valued at up to $27 billion, marking one of the largest AI compute partnerships this year.
Under the five-year deal, Nebius will deliver around $12 billion in dedicated AI computing capacity across multiple sites, built using advanced systems from NVIDIA to support Meta’s growing AI workloads.
Shares of Nebius jumped approximately 13% following the announcement, while Meta gained about 2.5%.
The news lifted sentiment across AI infrastructure and data center firms, with spillover into bitcoin-linked equities. IREN rose 6%, Galaxy Digital gained 8%, and Cipher Mining advanced 7%.
Meanwhile, TeraWulf secured a $500 million, 364-day bridge financing facility led by Morgan Stanley to fund construction of its Kentucky data center. Shares climbed roughly 12% on the news.
