Bitcoin stayed above $62,000 on Thursday even as U.S.-Iran tensions intensified again, while assets that typically absorb a war premium moved in different directions. Brent crude rose 1% to $78.80 a barrel for a third straight session of gains, while gold slipped to around $4,060 an ounce, extending its decline to a fourth day.
The latest move came after the U.S. military completed another round of strikes against Iran and both sides raised the prospect of closing the Strait of Hormuz. Inflation concerns resurfaced quickly. Government bonds in Japan, Australia and New Zealand fell, adding to the previous day’s global bond selloff, and the U.S. two-year Treasury yield moved closer to its 2026 high.
Major tokens dip on the day, but weekly performance remains mixed
Bitcoin traded at $62,009, down 1.2% over 24 hours but still up 1.6% on the week. Ether changed hands at $1,730, also down 1.2% on the day, with a 5.7% gain over seven days. Solana lagged, falling to $77.25, down 1.8% on the day and 1.7% over the week.
XRP slipped 0.7% to $1.09. TRON added 4% over seven days, and Hyperliquid’s HYPE posted a weekly gain of 5.9% despite a 1.2% daily decline. Price action across major crypto assets showed a relatively limited reaction to the geopolitical escalation, a clear contrast with earlier phases of the same conflict.
Traders are pricing the Middle East story through rates
On Wednesday, money markets brought forward their expectation for the next Federal Reserve rate increase to October from December. That shift landed in a market already carrying elevated valuations after this year’s rally in artificial intelligence shares. Higher rates cut into the appeal of non-yielding assets, which helps explain why gold has kept falling.
By that logic, bitcoin should have been under heavier pressure as well, yet its daily move was limited to 1.2%. The report noted that an oil shock, a bond selloff and a hawkish repricing of Fed expectations all arrived at once, but bitcoin reacted far less violently than it once did; earlier headlines tied to the Strait of Hormuz often triggered single-day declines of around 5%.
That pattern has held through each escalation since February. Each new step up in the conflict has produced a smaller response in crypto prices. The market appears to be treating Middle East tension less as a crypto-specific risk event and more as a rates event, which is why bitcoin has been tracking the front end of the yield curve more closely than crude oil.
Sentiment improves, but conviction is still limited
Market mood points in the same direction. The Fear and Greed Index climbed to 27, moving out of the extreme fear zone it had occupied for 40 straight days. Even so, the reading suggests an exit from panic rather than a strong return of conviction, and the index has not held above 50 since November.