Bitcoin Touches a Six-Week High as Investors Pour Into ETFs
March 16, 2026
(Bloomberg) — Bitcoin advanced to nearly a six-week high as investors returned to riskier assets on optimism that market turmoil tied to the Middle East conflict may be starting to ease.
The largest cryptocurrency climbed about 4% to $74,512, the highest since Feb. 4 before paring some of the gains. Bitcoin is still down around 40% from a record high reached in October.
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Other smaller, more volatile, digital assets saw even greater increases. Solana and XRP both rose as much as 7%. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, rose as much as 10%, more than twice Bitcoin’s advance. The increase by Ether is the largest since March 4, also taking it to the highest level since early February.
Bitcoin has weathered the war with Iran, which broke out at the end of February, better than many traditional assets. Gold is down about 5% this month, while Bitcoin is up by more than 12%. A slide in oil prices lifted stocks and bonds on hopes Monday that more tankers will be able to traverse the Strait of Hormuz, with signals that rich nations could release more stockpiles also helping sentiment.
“Crypto has been in a bullish mood over the past week despite geopolitical uncertainty,” said Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets. “A break through $75,000 now appears very possible, as both retail and strategic buyers feel the worst of the crypto drawdown is behind us.”
Market makers appear structurally short calls at the $75,000 level, according blockchain data firm Glassnode. “As spot approaches, hedging flows could intensify, potentially amplifying upside price moves.”
In the past 24 hours, about $530 million in liquidations were seen, according to data compiled by Coinglass.
“It is quite possible that near the $75,000 mark, the bears will take control, leaving Bitcoin within a corrective rebound pattern following a decline,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro. “From a cross-market analysis perspective, the bears have more arguments on their side, but Bitcoin has often moved ahead of the market, reflecting its underlying shifts in sentiment.”
Inflows to exchange-traded funds suggest a return of institutional confidence. Net flows for the 12 US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs topped $763 million last week, a third consecutive week of inflows. So far for March, total net inflows are $1.3 billion.
“BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for roughly 78% of those flows, a concentration that reflects conviction buying rather than speculative rotation,” said Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets.
On Monday, Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc. announced that it purchased nearly $1.6 billion worth of Bitcoin in the prior week, the company’s largest acquisition since January.
Meanwhile, the digital asset treasury BitMine Immersion Technology Inc. has been increasing the pace of its Ether buying over the past two weeks, purchasing nearly 61,000 tokens last week, Chairman Tom Lee said in a release Monday.
Strategy’s stock rose about 5%, while the shares of other crypto-related companies also increased. Coinbase Global Inc. gained 4% and Riot Platforms Inc. edged about 3% higher. Bitmine jumped over 12%.
Jeff Mei, chief operating officer at BTSE, also pointed to Iran’s comments that the strait was only shut to ships from “enemies,” suggesting only American and Israeli ships would be threatened.
“If the conflict looks as if it’s drawing to an end, Bitcoin could very easily recover quickly and retrace back towards the $100,000 mark,” Mei said. “If the conflict is likely to drag on, Bitcoin could dip back towards the $60,000 mark.”
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