Bitcoin It surged on Wednesday, underscoring its growing resilience to turmoil in the Middle East, while gold, a traditional safe haven, lagged behind.
The leading cryptocurrency by market cap rose more than 6% on a 24-hour basis to $71,023 during European hours, according to CoinDesk data. Other majors like Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) followed Bitcoin’s lead, rising between 4% and 6%.
The CoinDesk 20 Index, a broad market gauge, rose more than 5% to 2,025 points.
“Bitcoin may now exhibit some defensive characteristics during crisis periods, but gold’s comeback highlights that even classic safe-havens are not immune to market dynamics, positioning Bitcoin as a more resilient but still high-beta alternative,” Tagus Capital said in its daily newsletter.
BTC surged to its highest level since February 8 as the crisis deepens, with Iran blocking oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz and fears of energy-price inflation rising around the world. Since the conflict with Israel and the US began on Saturday, Bitcoin has proven surprisingly resilient, with downside limited to around $65,000.
Meanwhile, traditional safe haven gold rose above $5,400 an ounce on Monday and has since fallen to $5,160. Asian equity indices led by South Korea’s Kospi index fell sharply due to rising oil import costs.