Bitcoin surged more than 6% to $73,000 on Wednesday morning, its highest level in a month, as renewed geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran pushed investors toward the digital asset.
Investors now see crypto as a potential safe haven during geopolitical shocks because digital assets are not tied to supply chains or energy disruptions. After trading near key lows since October, the sector could now attract new capital.
Crypto assets have underperformed stocks and metals over the past couple of months. However, after the US attack on Iran on Saturday, digital assets began to diverge, outperforming both traditional stocks and precious metals.
Bitcoin topped $73,000 early Wednesday. Ether rose more than 7% to around $2,130, Solana rose 5% to $91 and XRP rose 6% to $1.44.
Traditional markets also recovered after heavy losses earlier in the week. The S&P 500 rose about 0.5% on the day, and the Nasdaq gained 1.3%. Precious metals, which had rallied in anticipation of military action, also recovered slightly from Tuesday’s decline, with gold and silver both up a little more than 1%.
The rally also lifted crypto-related stocks. Shares of Coinbase rose more than 14%, Galaxy gained 13% and Circle gained nearly 3%.
Companies involved in crypto treasury strategies also rose higher. Strategy is up about 10% and BitMine is up about 10%. Mining companies posted strong gains, with IREN up around 10%, Hut 8 up 13%, TeraWulf up 6% and Cipher Mining around 7%.
Other crypto-related stocks rose higher after the move. Robinhood was up around 8%, Block was up 4% and Figure was close to 10%.
Traders are now closely watching Bitcoin’s current range. The area between $70,000 and $74,000 has become an important technical zone as Bitcoin has struggled to sustain a move above this level after breaking below $70,000 in early February. A hold above $73,000 could signal further upside, while a break above $70,000 would likely nullify the current breakout attempt.
