Headline: Bitcoin jumps above $72,000 as ceasefire hopes lift risk appetite
Bitcoin climbed above $72,000 on Thursday after fresh signs of de-escalation in the Middle East sparked a rebound in risk assets. What began as a down day for crypto flipped positive when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet to begin negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible,” following an NBC News report that President Trump had asked Netanyahu to scale back bombing in Lebanon to avoid jeopardizing a planned ceasefire.
Market moves at a glance
- Bitcoin surged roughly 3% on the headlines and was trading around $72,300—about a 2% gain over the past 24 hours.
- Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL) and XRP rose too, but each by less than 1%, leaving bitcoin as the clear outperformer among the majors.
- U.S. equities reversed modest early losses: the Nasdaq was up about 0.65%.
- Oil volatility cooled after an intraday spike—WTI crude tumbled from nearly $103/barrel to about $98.60.
Stocks vs. crypto: a growing divergence
Bitcoin’s rally stands in contrast to weakness in software equities. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV) slid about 4%, closing in on a key support near $76 that has repeatedly held in past tests. Over the last month, bitcoin is up roughly 9% while IGV has fallen about 12%. On a 20-day moving-average basis, the correlation between Bitcoin and IGV has fallen to 0.34, underscoring the recent decoupling between the largest crypto and software stocks.
Why it matters
Geopolitical developments that reduce the prospect of wider conflict tend to lower risk premia and lift risk assets, explaining the quick bounce in bitcoin and U.S. equities. The heavier lift in bitcoin versus other crypto majors suggests traders are favoring the largest, most liquid crypto as a primary risk-on play amid the developing news flow.
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