By Francisco Rodrigues (All times Eastern Time unless otherwise noted)
Cryptocurrency prices are falling as some holders look to cash in on the mid-week bounce to $74,000 and others prefer less risky assets as the war in the Middle East intensifies.
bitcoin has lost 3.7% over the past 24 hours, remaining just above $70,000, while the broader CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) fell 3.5% as momentum from the rally earlier in the week cooled. Bitcoin surpassed $74,000 on Wednesday and is still up more than 6% in five days.
Illia Otychenko, senior analyst at CEX.IO, said the drop reflects selling pressure from short-term traders who bought the rally. “Despite the recent recovery, there is still limited conviction that the rally will continue,” Otychenko told CoinDesk.
Meanwhile, derivatives markets are showing growing pessimism. Funding rates remain deeply negative, meaning traders are paying to hold short positions.
But underlying demand has gone nowhere. Otychenko noted that stablecoin movements on exchanges recently reached their highest levels in 2026, while bitcoin ETF spot flows turned positive.
“This creates a clear conflict in the market. Institutional spot buyers are accumulating Bitcoin, while derivatives traders are increasing short positions,” he added. “Historically, when spot accumulation coincides with negative financing, it often ends in a short squeeze, where short sellers are forced to close positions and the price rises. However, that outcome is not guaranteed.”
Geopolitics remains a factor. Brent crude has risen more than 22% in the past week after US and Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory strikes disrupted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point that carries about 20% of the world’s supply.
“Hormuz tanker traffic is still down 92%, Goldman warns oil could hit $100 and the curve is flattening again as short-term repricing inflation risk with 2Y retreating to 3.51%,” Wintermute trader Bryan Tan said in a note.
Rising energy prices are fueling concerns about inflation, leading traders to reconsider expectations for interest rate cuts. Bond markets are already reflecting that shift, with U.S. Treasury yields rising as investors price in the risk that inflation will remain elevated.
And don’t forget that there is also the US employment report today, which will also influence the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions. Stay alert!
Read more: For an analysis of current activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today
What to watch
For a more complete list of this week’s events, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Crypto
- Macro
- March 6, 8:30 am: US nonfarm payrolls for February est. 59K (was 130K)
- March 6, 8:30 am: US unemployment rate for February Est 4.3% (Previous 4.3%)
- March 6, 8:30 am: Average monthly hourly earnings in the US for February est. 0.3% (previously 0.4%)
- Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
- March 6: Metalpha (MATH), pre-market
symbolic events
For a more complete list of this week’s events, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Governance votes and calls
- There are no big votes or calls for governance.
- Unlock
- March 6 – Hyperliquid (HYPE) will unlock 2.72% of its circulating supply worth around $288.77 million.
- Token releases
Conferences
For a more complete list of this week’s events, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
Market movements
- BTC is down 1.15% since 4 pm ET on Thursday to $70,398.30 (24 hours: -2.89%)
- ETH is down 1.58% to $2,055.24 (24 hours: -3.01%)
- CoinDesk 20 is down 1.22% to 2,008.56 (24 hours: -3.52%)
- Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is down 8 basis points to 2.83%
- BTC funding rate is -0.011% (-1.2209% annualized) on Binance
- DXY remains unchanged at 99.23
- Gold futures rise 0.69% to $5,100.10
- Silver futures rise 1.64% to $83.03
- The Nikkei 225 closed up 0.62% at 55,620.84
- Hang Seng closed up 1.72% at 25,757.29
- The FTSE 100 is unchanged at 10,415.70
- Euro Stoxx 50 unchanged at 5,760.30
- DJIA closed Thursday down 1.61% at 47,954.74
- The S&P 500 closed down 0.56% at 6,830.71
- Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.26% at 22,748.99
- S&P/TSX Composite closed down 0.98% at 33,610.00
- The S&P 40 Latin America closed with a fall of 3.12% to 7,318.90
- The 10-year US Treasury rate rises 7 basis points to 4.15%
- E-mini S&P 500 futures unchanged at 6,804.50
- E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures unchanged at 24,905.25
- E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures unchanged at 47,804.00
Bitcoin Statistics
- BTC dominance: 59.47% (-0.02%)
- Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.02917 (-0.24%)
- Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 1,026 EH/s
- Hash price (spot): $30.66
- Total fees: 2.75 BTC / $198,402
- CME Futures Open Interest: 104,755 BTC
- BTC priced in gold: 13.8 oz.
- BTC market capitalization against gold: 4.71%
Technical analysis
- The ratio of altcoins (excluding top 10) to bitcoin is likely to close above the 50-week exponential moving average, implying that there is no clear breakout for altcoins relative to BTC.
- Without clear divergences on the RSI, it is unlikely that we will see a sustained rally in the broader altcoin universe.
Crypto Stocks
- Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on Thursday at $205.71 (–1.54%), –0.40% to $204.89 in premarket
- Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $22.73 (–6.61%), –0.70% at $22.57
- MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $8.77 (–5.60%), –0.91% at $8.69
- Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $15.60 (–5.63%), –0.71% at $15.49
- Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $16.00 (+1.01%)
- CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $9.95 (–6.66%), –0.50% at $9.90
- Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $11.18 (–8.06%)
- CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF (WGMI): closed at $39.25 (–4.73%)
- Circle Internet Group (CRCL): closed at $105.74 (+0.45%), –0.43% to $105.29
- Bullish (BLSH): Closed at $35.02 (–4.99%), unchanged at $35.00
Crypto treasury companies
- Strategy (MSTR): closed at $139.81 (–4.53%), –0.30% at $139.39
- Strive Asset Management (ASST): closed at $9.25 (–3.85%)
- Sharplink (SBET): closed at $7.93 (–2.46%), –1.01% at $7.85
- Upexi (UPXI): closed at $0.96 (–10.93%)
- Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.13 (–7.38%)
ETF Flows
BTC Spot ETF
- Daily net flows: -$227.9 million
- Accumulated net flows: $55.7 billion
- Total BTC holdings ~1.29 million
ETH Spot ETF
- Daily net flows: -$90.9 million
- Accumulated net flows: 11,740 million dollars
- Total ETH holdings ~5.68 million
Source: Farside Investors
