Bitcoin climbs to a one-month high near $72,000 as safe-haven demand strengthens.

Bitcoin climbed to a one-month high near $71,800 as investors turned toward perceived haven assets amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, while strength also returned to parts of the altcoin market.

The largest cryptocurrency by market value rose to $71,800, pushing past recent resistance and brushing aside the risk-off sentiment that has weighed on U.S. equities in recent days. Prices briefly approached the $72,000 mark — a level last seen on Feb. 8 before bitcoin retraced to around $65,000.

Traditional safe-haven assets also advanced. Gold gained about 1.8% and silver rose roughly 5.3% since midnight UTC on Wednesday, while bitcoin climbed around 4.8% over the same period.

The move toward haven assets comes as geopolitical tensions intensify in the Middle East. Israel said it struck multiple security headquarters inside Iran, while Iran reportedly launched attacks targeting U.S. sites in Dubai and Qatar. Against this backdrop, equity markets have remained largely unchanged, underperforming the broader crypto market.

Derivatives positioning

Activity in crypto derivatives markets suggests traders are increasing exposure rather than rapidly rotating positions.

Over the past 24 hours, global crypto futures open interest rose about 8% to nearly $103 billion. Trading volume also increased, though at a slower pace than open interest, indicating traders are adding positions and maintaining exposure as prices rebound.

Open interest across futures tied to the top 10 cryptocurrencies increased, with dogecoin leading the gains at roughly 10%.

Funding rates for perpetual futures and cumulative volume delta across major cryptocurrencies — including bitcoin and ether — have turned positive, signaling growing buying pressure and supporting the possibility of continued price recovery.

Meanwhile, 30-day implied volatility for bitcoin and ether options has remained stable, holding near levels seen before the Middle East conflict escalated, suggesting the market has not entered a panic phase.

On the Deribit exchange, however, put options for both bitcoin and ether continue to trade at higher premiums than call options, reflecting lingering downside hedging.

The most actively traded option over the past 24 hours was the $125,000 strike bitcoin call expiring at the end of March. According to Deribit, much of the activity appears to be traders closing existing short positions rather than initiating new bullish bets.

Block trading flows showed demand for bitcoin call spreads and call ratio spreads, pointing to moderately bullish positioning. For ether, traders showed interest in both call and put spreads.

Altcoin momentum returning

Signs of strength are also emerging in the altcoin market after nearly a month of consolidation.

Ether gained about 5% since midnight UTC, while daily trading volume held steady near $25 billion.

Smaller, lower-liquidity tokens significantly outperformed the majors. KITE, AERO and TAO each posted double-digit gains over the past 24 hours, while tokens such as PUMP and DCR advanced roughly 6% during the same period.

Market sentiment has also improved modestly. The crypto Fear and Greed Index has rebounded from a multi-year low of 5/100 recorded in February to 19/100, signaling that cautious optimism is beginning to return to the market.

Among sector benchmarks, the CoinDesk Computing Select Index delivered the strongest performance over the past day, rising around 7%, while the bitcoin-weighted CoinDesk 20 Index advanced about 5% over the same timeframe.