NEW YORK, March 26, 2026, 13:36 EDT
Bitcoin fell below $69,000 on Thursday and dragged crypto-linked stocks lower, as oil rebounded and fading hopes for a quick de-escalation in the Middle East conflict pushed traders out of risky bets. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency was last at $69,079, down about 2.7% on the day, while ether fell 4.6% to about $2,067.
The move matters because it leaves bitcoin struggling to hold the $70,000 area it had reclaimed earlier this week and shows, again, how tightly crypto is trading with broader risk markets. Coinbase shares were down about 4.5% and Strategy fell about 3.5%, a spillover that suggests traders are still treating bitcoin as a proxy for risk appetite rather than a shelter from it.
Demand through U.S. exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, has not vanished, but it has thinned out. Farside data showed spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in a net $7.8 million on March 25, a modest figure that followed a $74.5 million outflow a day earlier and underscored how patchy flows have become.
Oil was the immediate trigger. Brent crude rose $4.77 to $106.99 a barrel and U.S. crude climbed to $93.64 after Iran denied there were any talks with Washington, while global shares turned unsteady. “Unfortunately, we’re in a market that’s being driven by oil prices,” Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York, said. Reuters
Even so, some bulls have not given up on a recovery. Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani said this week, “We believe Bitcoin has found its trough and is now heading higher.” Yahoo Finance
Riya Sehgal, a research analyst at Delta Exchange, said bitcoin was still holding support near $68,000. A sustained move above $72,000, she said, could reopen the way to $74,000-$75,000, while another failure there may leave the token stuck in a broad range.
But the next 24 hours could still cut either way. Traders are bracing for some $18.6 billion in bitcoin options to expire on Friday — options are contracts that let investors bet on future price levels — and money markets no longer price in any Federal Reserve rate cuts this year. If oil stays high, that mix could magnify an already jittery market.
Thursday’s slide also came fast. Bitcoin was changing hands at $71,299.68 at 9 a.m. ET on March 25, Fortune data showed, which means the token has shed roughly $2,200 in a little over a day. It is still above the 16-month low near $60,017 hit in early February, when a wider liquidation wave tore through crypto markets.
The bigger backdrop remains split. Last week the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission laid out guidance on which digital assets count as securities, a step the industry had long sought, but Citigroup also cut its 12-month bitcoin target to $112,000 from $143,000 and said the token could trade sideways around $70,000 as U.S. crypto legislation stalls. That leaves bitcoin with a friendlier rule book than before, but a macro backdrop that still looks rough.
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