Bitcoin stuck at $67,000 as Iran’s inverse market calls keep proving timely

Even with Tuesday’s bounce, the bigger picture still looks weak across equities.

The Nasdaq Composite is still in correction territory, sitting more than 10% below its recent high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down over 8%, while the S&P 500 is off by more than 6%.

Zoom out a bit and it gets worse.

Tuesday is the last trading day of the month, and the S&P 500 is down more than 5% in March, putting it on track for its worst month since 2022 if nothing changes.

The Dow is also down more than 5%, which would snap a 10-month winning streak. The Nasdaq has dropped nearly 5% for the month as well.

The quarterly picture is not any better.

All three major indexes are heading toward losses. The Nasdaq is leading the decline, down more than 7% for the quarter. The S&P 500 has lost around 4%, while the Dow is lower by about 3%.

At the same time, crypto-linked stocks are moving the other way and pushing higher.

MercadoLibre is up 6.81% at $1,729.53, while Robinhood has gained 6.28% to $69.25. Strategy is up 2.82% at $124.86, and PayPal has added 1.23% to $45.22.

Block is up 5.52% at $60.18, and Circle has climbed 6.06% to $95.36 with heavy volume.

Mining and crypto exposure names are also seeing strong moves. IREN is up 8.33%, Galaxy Digital has gained 7.29%, and Bitmine is up 8.06%.

Hut 8 is jumping 9.82%, Core Scientific is up 7.55%, and Bullish has added 7.86%.

MARA Holdings is up 4.55%, CleanSpark has gained 3.91%, and Bitdeer is up 9.77%.

Smaller names are seeing even sharper moves. American Bitcoin is up 16.49%, Canaan has gained 11.66%, and Genius Group is up 7.22%.

Gold kept moving higher for a second straight day as traders reacted to two things at once: new insane comments from U.S. President Donald Trump on Iran and growing belief that the Federal Reserve may not need to stay as aggressive on rates.

Bullion rose as much as 1.8%, trading near $4,585 an ounce, after already gaining 0.4% in the previous session. The move showed that investors were still leaning into safety even as risk assets also tried to bounce.

Trump turned up the pressure late Monday. In a Truth Social post, he said the U.S. was in talks with what he called a “new” and “more reasonable” regime in Iran to end military operations.

But he also warned that if a deal is not reached soon, and if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened right away, the U.S. would hit Iran’s electric plants, oil wells and Kharg Island.

That threat mattered because Kharg Island is central to Iran’s oil trade. Roughly 90% of the country’s crude exports move through the island before shipments pass through Hormuz. The site is also believed to handle about 7 million barrels per day of loading capacity, making it one of the most important pieces of Iran’s energy system.

Iran had not responded publicly to Trump’s latest remarks at the time of writing. Earlier in the day, though, a spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry said proposals in a 15-point U.S. plan were seen as excessive and unreasonable. Iranian leaders also denied they were holding direct talks with Washington.

Crypto prices were firmer as the broader market tried to stabilize. Bitcoin traded at $67,950.8, up 1.98%, with $64.78 billion in derivatives volume and a market value of $1.36 trillion. Ether rose 3.15% to $2,073.43, while Solana gained 1.37% to $83.86. XRP lagged, slipping 0.11% to $1.3385.

Bitcoin is stuck around $67,000 and barely moving in a week that continues after Iran’s parliament speaker on Sunday called pre-market news a “reverse indicator” and saying if markets dump you go long, and if they pump you short. Since then, that call has basically played out step by step.

That same night, S&P 500 futures dropped nearly 1% as war fears picked up. Two hours later at midnight, those losses were completely wiped out and futures turned green.

Then at 7:25 AM ET, Donald Trump posted that “great progress” was being made on peace talks, pushing the S&P 500 up 100 points from its low. About seven hours later by 3:00 PM ET, that move fully reversed, with the index down 100 points from its high.

That’s roughly a $2 trillion swing in S&P 500 market value in a matter of hours.

As U.S. futures opened Monday night, pressure came back again. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.4%, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.7%, and Dow futures dropped 145 points, or 0.3%.

Oil added more fuel to the volatility. Prices jumped after reports that Iran struck a Kuwaiti oil tanker in Dubai waters. Dubai officials said all 24 crew members were safe with no injuries. Brent crude rose 2% and WTI gained 3%.

Meanwhile i Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi fell over 4% and the Kosdaq dropped more than 3%, while the won weakened 0.63% to 1,526.9 per dollar, its lowest level since 2009.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 2.2% and the Topix lost 1.4%. Australia’s ASX 200 slipped 0.56%. Hong Kong futures pointed lower at 24,683 compared to the last close of 24,750.8.

Back in the U.S. regular session, the S&P 500 fell 0.39% for a third straight loss, the Nasdaq dropped 0.73%, and the Dow rose 49.50 points, or 0.11%.

The S&P 500 is now just over 9% below its recent closing high, with tech stocks leading the downside after falling more than 1%.