Amid a muted stock market response to the Iran War,
Bitcoin surpasses $68,000.
U.S. stock index futures were down more than 2% at their lowest points, but an hour into Monday's trading day, equities markets are hardly down.
Cryptocurrency prices are climbing from their lowest weekend levels in early U.S. trade on Monday, coinciding with a notable uptick in U.S. equity indices.
The Nasdaq is down just 0.1% an hour into the session, despite futures indicating a more than 2% decline at one point during the night. Additionally, the DJIA and S&P 500 are reporting very slight losses.
Crude oil is still up 7% and gold is up 2%. With a 1% increase, the U.S. dollar index is having one of its best sessions in weeks.
Bitcoin BTC $69,447.13 has increased 2.3% in the last day to $68,600. Ether (ETH) has increased by 1.4%, while XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) have increased by comparable percentages.
Even greater gains are being reported by cryptocurrency-related stocks, with Circle (CRCL) leading the way with a 12% increase. Galaxy Digital (GLXY) has increased by 4.7% and Strategy (MSTR) by 6%.
Macroeconomically speaking, the ISM manufacturing PMI for February was 52.4, indicating yet another month of sector growth and the first run of prints above 50 since the fourth quarter of 2022. This comes after Friday's Chicago Business Barometer, which increased from 54 to 57.7 in February 2026, significantly exceeding forecasts of 52.8. The result represents the fastest rate of US activity growth since May 2022 and only the second expansion since November 2023.
A March rate cut now seems almost out of the question ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting on March 18 in light of the Middle East crisis, rebounding factory activity, last week's hotter-than-expected PPI data, and rising oil prices brought on by geopolitical concerns.
That would typically be seen as a negative factor for cryptocurrency values, but it's possible that markets have already factored in tighter-than-anticipated U.S. monetary policy.
Bitcoin surpasses $68,000.
U.S. stock index futures were down more than 2% at their lowest points, but an hour into Monday's trading day, equities markets are hardly down.
Cryptocurrency prices are climbing from their lowest weekend levels in early U.S. trade on Monday, coinciding with a notable uptick in U.S. equity indices.
The Nasdaq is down just 0.1% an hour into the session, despite futures indicating a more than 2% decline at one point during the night. Additionally, the DJIA and S&P 500 are reporting very slight losses.
Crude oil is still up 7% and gold is up 2%. With a 1% increase, the U.S. dollar index is having one of its best sessions in weeks.
Bitcoin BTC $69,447.13 has increased 2.3% in the last day to $68,600. Ether (ETH) has increased by 1.4%, while XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) have increased by comparable percentages.
Even greater gains are being reported by cryptocurrency-related stocks, with Circle (CRCL) leading the way with a 12% increase. Galaxy Digital (GLXY) has increased by 4.7% and Strategy (MSTR) by 6%.
Macroeconomically speaking, the ISM manufacturing PMI for February was 52.4, indicating yet another month of sector growth and the first run of prints above 50 since the fourth quarter of 2022. This comes after Friday's Chicago Business Barometer, which increased from 54 to 57.7 in February 2026, significantly exceeding forecasts of 52.8. The result represents the fastest rate of US activity growth since May 2022 and only the second expansion since November 2023.
A March rate cut now seems almost out of the question ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting on March 18 in light of the Middle East crisis, rebounding factory activity, last week's hotter-than-expected PPI data, and rising oil prices brought on by geopolitical concerns.
That would typically be seen as a negative factor for cryptocurrency values, but it's possible that markets have already factored in tighter-than-anticipated U.S. monetary policy.
