Bitcoin rose back above $68,000 on March 31 after markets began betting on a resolution to the war between Iran, the US and Israel and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was ready to end the war under certain conditions.
Data from CryptoSlate showed that the broader crypto market added approximately $40 billion in value following the comments. Bitcoin climbed almost 2% to regain the $68,000 level, while Ethereum rose 3% to around $2,100.
The recovery marked a sharp turnaround for digital assets, which had been under pressure for much of last week as conflict in the Middle East pushed investors toward oil, the dollar and other traditional defensive trades.
The terms sought by Tehran were not immediately clear, forcing markets to respond first to the possibility of de-escalation rather than a concrete diplomatic framework.
Yet that uncertainty did little to slow the initial movement between asset classes.
De-escalation of the war in Iran lifts the market
The Kobeissi letter suggested that oil prices had fallen sharply by 5% in about three minutes today, due to unconfirmed comments from Pezeshkian. The message implies that algorithmic trading systems quickly made headlines. More than $1 trillion in market value was said to move across global markets in minutes as investors reassessed the likelihood of a protracted conflict.
Yesterday, reports also surfaced about the Prime Minister’s making similar comments.
Today, US stocks also rose rapidly at the same time, while the dollar fell almost 1% on the DXY Dollar Index. The S&P 500 gained 2.5% that day, add about $1.4 trillion in market capitalization, as traders returned to risky assets hit by the surge in energy prices and fears of broader regional disruption.
A WSJ article Today Kobeissi’s story is leading, which states that President Trump is also keen to end the war soon.
The reaction reflected how heavily the war had begun to weigh on financial markets even before Tehran’s latest comments. Notably, oil prices have consistently risen above $100 this month, with Brent crude on track for its biggest monthly gain ever, up 54% since early March.
That oil shock has become the central macro channel linking the conflict to crypto. Bitcoin and other digital assets are increasingly traded as broader risk-sensitive instruments during periods of rising interest rates, tighter financial conditions and inflation fears.
As crude rose, investors worried that a longer disruption to energy flows in the Middle East would keep price pressures high, weaken growth and reduce room for central banks to ease policy.
Meanwhile, economic interests extend far beyond the financial markets.
The International Monetary Fund recently warned that a protracted conflict that continues to choke flows through the Gulf would lead to higher prices and slower growth globally.
This view has influenced investor behavior across asset classes, with traders looking not just to the battlefield, but also to the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s major energy chokepoints.