Bitcoin Although market sentiment remains very pessimistic amid the Iran war and volatile oil prices, it remains around $70,000, showing impressive price stability.
The Cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index, a widely tracked sentiment indicator, has continued to signal extreme fear in recent weeks, suggesting traders remain cautious despite the absence of a major price breakout.
Market positioning also paints a pessimistic picture. Annualized funding rates for Bitcoin perpetual futures have been negative since early March, reflecting a growing bias toward bearish short bets. The current duration marks the longest period of negative funding since April 2025, when Bitcoin finally formed a market bottom around $76,000.
That’s in line with Wall Street’s concerns, with the VIX index jumping to 25 this week, its highest level in more than a year.
However, Bitcoin’s price action has been very resilient. The largest cryptocurrency has gained about 7% since the conflict in the Middle East escalated on February 28. This figure compares favorably with other major assets during the same period. The Nasdaq 100 was mostly steady, while the S&P 500 was down about 1%, gold was down about 3% and silver was down nearly 9%.
Additionally, Brent crude briefly rebounded above $100 a barrel earlier today amid ongoing tensions in the region.
The contrast was also evident during Wednesday’s U.S. trading session. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) rose 1%. This comes despite losses on major equity benchmarks such as the S&P 500 (SPX), Nasdaq 100 (QQQ), Russell 2000 (IWM) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), highlighting Bitcoin’s relative resilience during U.S. market hours.
The outperformance likely stemmed from large traders and institutions snapping up the tokens in privately negotiated deals, keeping demand steady.
Currently, Bitcoin appears to be outperforming the market sentiment surrounding it, remaining stable despite ongoing concerns across the financial sector.
