Bitcoin price is rising again in a sharp market reversal. Why the Middle East crisis has investors turning to crypto

After tumbling in the wake of Saturday’s attack on Iran, major cryptocurrencies and related stocks are on the upswing again. Here’s what could be happening.

[Image: Michael Nivelet/Adobe Stock]

Forward March? The initial market movements on Monday seem to indicate that’s the case, at least for crypto.

On Monday, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) was up more than 5%, jumping to more than $69,000 as of 12 p.m. ET from around $65,500 on Sunday afternoon. Likewise, Ethereum (ETh) was up around 6% while XRP rose about 3%.

The CoinDesk 20, a crypto market index, is also up around 5%.

The broad increase in crypto values was a reversal from a downslide that cryptocurrency markets had been seeing in the lead-up to the United States and Israel launching attacks on Iran on Saturday.

On Saturday, after news of the attacks broke, Bitcoin values fell to near $63,000. But as of midday Monday, values were up around 9% from that Saturday low point.

At the same time, the broader stock market has been flat. The S&P 500 is actually down around 1.5% over the past month.

Additionally, crypto-related stocks are also up on Monday. For instance, Coinbase Global (Nasdaq: COIN) saw its shares rise around 4%, while stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) was up 13%.

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