Bitcoin rose above $71,500 on Friday, outperforming U.S. equities even as the dollar strengthened and oil prices remained elevated as the war with Iran was set to enter its third week.
A stronger dollar can tighten global financial conditions and often weighs on risk assets such as equities and cryptocurrencies. Higher oil prices — both Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate are hovering around $100 per barrel — reinforce inflation concerns and heighten expectations of interest-rate increases. Higher rates also detract from the attraction of such investments.
Despite these macro and geopolitical pressures, including the Middle East conflict, bitcoin has remained resilient and is among the best-performing macro assets since the war began on March 1. Historically, Fridays during this period have seen the largest cryptocurrency fall some 3%, a pattern that has not repeated so far today.
The Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the strength of the U.S. currency against a basket of major global currencies, topped 100 for the first time since late November. U.S. Treasury yields are also rising, with the benchmark 10-year bond yield climbing above 4.2%, reflecting tighter financial conditions and higher borrowing costs.
The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the Nasdaq 100 index, meanwhile, was recently little changed.
In crypto-linked equities, Strategy (MSTR), the largest publicly traded corporate holder of bitcoin, added 1% before the start of official trading. The company has acquired roughly 11,000 BTC this week using proceeds from its perpetual preferred security Stretch (STRC).
Today marks the ex-dividend date for STRC, which means it has slipped slightly below its $100 par value to around $99.50.
Meanwhile, AI repurposed bitcoin miners such as IREN (IREN) and Cipher Digital (CIFR) opened slightly lower, while crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) added about 2%.
