- Bitcoin holds $70K despite Middle East tensions, showing strong market resilience.
- Exchange-held Bitcoin drops to lowest since 2017, signaling investor confidence in holding.
- Oil infrastructure threats stir volatility, but crypto traders now price conflict risks calmly.
Cryptocurrency markets are navigating turbulence as the Iran-Israel-US conflict intensifies, showing surprising resilience despite high geopolitical tension. Analysts report that optimism for a swift resolution peaked after former US President Donald Trump stated the US would “win very decisively.”
However, recent retaliatory strikes and coverage of the conflict in the media have had an effect on social sentiment in recent days. Additionally, social media mentions that include “war” or “conflict” and “end” or “over” are starting to pick up as the week progresses, indicating that market sentiment remains highly attuned to geopolitical events.
Besides geopolitical sentiment, the fundamental Bitcoin dynamics reflect strong investor confidence. According to Santiment, the percentage of Bitcoin held on exchanges has dropped to its lowest level since November 2017. This indicates a growing preference for long-term holding rather than reactive selling, even amid conflict-driven volatility.
Market Response Shows Growing Stability
Two weeks into the Middle Eastern war, Bitcoin trades near $70,000, only slightly down after the US targeted Iran’s Kharg Island crude export facility. The cryptocurrency briefly hit a high of $73,838 last Friday before giving back 3.5% due to the strike.
However, the pullback was contained, indicating that the market participants have now developed a framework for pricing the risks of the conflicts in real time. Ether rose by 5.5% to $2,090, Dogecoin rose by 5%, Solana rose by 4.2% to $88, and BNB rose by 4.5% to $655.
Additionally, Trump’s remarks on Kharg Island introduced new market variables. He emphasized sparing oil infrastructure “for reasons of decency” but warned he would “immediately reconsider” if Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded, stating any strike on energy assets would trigger retaliatory attacks on U.S.-linked facilities.
Consequently, any future energy infrastructure conflict could dramatically disrupt supply and elevate market volatility, with the IEA already citing this as the largest potential supply crisis in history.
Disclaimer: The information on this page may come from third parties and does not represent the views or opinions of Gate. The content displayed on this page is for reference only and does not constitute any financial, investment, or legal advice. Gate does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information and shall not be liable for any losses arising from the use of this information. Virtual asset investments carry high risks and are subject to significant price volatility. You may lose all of your invested principal. Please fully understand the relevant risks and make prudent decisions based on your own financial situation and risk tolerance. For details, please refer to
Disclaimer.
Related Articles
Caltech Research Shows Quantum Bitcoin Threat Could Arrive with 10,000 Qubits
A team from Caltech and startup Oratomic published research on March 31, 2026 demonstrating that a fault-tolerant quantum computer capable of running Shor’s algorithm could be built with as few as 10,000 physical qubits, dramatically reducing previous estimates that placed the requirement at one million qubits or higher.
GateNews10m ago
Empery Digital reduced its holdings by 79 BTC last week, bringing its position down to 3,359 BTC
Gate News reports that on April 1, Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin treasury company Empery Digital disclosed that it sold 79 bitcoins last week at an average price of $71,031, generating total proceeds of approximately $5.6 million. Its total bitcoin holdings have decreased to 3,359 bitcoins. Additionally, the company revealed that to date, it has invested about $137 million to repurchase 23,630,147 shares of common stock. Going forward, it will continue to sell bitcoin as needed to fund future stock buybacks and may also repay some outstanding debt.
GateNews39m ago
A certain CEX still has 4,619 BTC in outstanding borrowings owed to the related party Winklevoss Capital
On April 1, Arkham analyst Emmett Gallic disclosed that a cryptocurrency exchange has not yet repaid a BTC loan of 4,619 BTC, worth approximately $314 million, with an annual fee rate of 4%-8%, no fixed maturity date, and lenders able to demand repayment at any time. Historically, the exchange has borrowed more than 11,000 BTC and 133,000 ETH.
GateNews48m ago
BTC 15-minute modest uptrend of 0.49%: institutional fund flows are driving short-term price anomalies
2026-04-01 03:00 to 2026-04-01 03:15 (UTC), BTC fluctuated in the 67,663.9 to 68,103.8 USDT range. The candlestick return rate recorded +0.49%, with an amplitude of 0.65%. During this period, market attention warmed up, with on-chain activity and trading volume increasing in tandem. Heightened short-term capital inflows and outflows triggered mild price fluctuations, and traders’ sentiment turned more cautious.
The main driving force behind this unusual move was dominated by institutional fund flows, including whales and institutions making large transfers to exchanges and withdrawals within 10 minutes; meanwhile, whales also transferred large amounts to the exchange and moved funds out to other addresses, indicating active capital repositioning during this period.
GateNews55m ago
Did the Bitcoin quantum threat arrive early? Google simulates a 9-minute hijacking of funds—6.9 million BTC could be in danger
Google research shows that the number of qubits required to break Bitcoin could be lower than 500,000—far below expectations—which puts about 9.0 million BTC at potential risk. Quantum computers can intercept transactions within “9 minutes,” and especially after the Taproot upgrade, many wallets are exposed to attack risk. This serves as a reminder that the crypto industry needs to guard against quantum threats as soon as possible.
CryptoCity57m ago
