Bitcoin holds up after Iran strike, outpacing equities in risk-off session: Crypto Markets Today

CoinDesk

by Oliver Knight

March 2, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

Bitcoin demonstrated remarkable resilience this week, outperforming traditional equity markets amid heightened geopolitical tensions following U.S. and Israeli strikes in Iran. After Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was killed, triggering retaliatory attacks and concerns over Middle East oil supplies, Bitcoin rebounded to $66,500, marking a 1.1% gain since midnight UTC. While equity indices like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 fell by over 1%, crypto markets showed signs of stabilization, with most altcoins mirroring Bitcoin's upward trajectory. The weekend's price action was driven by $300 million in long liquidations, a significant yet contained figure that indicated markets were already bracing for volatility. Safe-haven assets like gold and silver saw their prices rise to multi-month highs, while oil surged 13% to $82 a barrel—the highest since July 2024. This shift toward traditional safe havens coincided with crypto's relative resilience, as Bitcoin held steady within its February trading range of $62,500 to $70,000. DeFi tokens like MORPHO, JUP, AAVE, and LDO outperformed, reflecting speculative interest despite broader market cautiousness. Meanwhile, WLFI, a token linked to U.S. President Trump's family, continued its decline, dropping 2.5% since midnight UTC and losing over 44% since mid-January. These divergent performances highlight the varied dynamics within the crypto ecosystem. Derivatives data revealed a slightly bearish bias, with annualized perpetual funding rates for major cryptocurrencies remaining little changed to negative. However, Bitcoin's 30-day implied volatility index remained steady at around 58.8%, indicating no signs of panic-driven selling. On Deribit, increased activity in $60,000 puts signaled heightened downside concerns but also underscored Bitcoin's role as a hedge against broader market instability. The resilience of Bitcoin and select DeFi tokens amid geopolitical uncertainty underscores the

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Originally published on CoinDesk on 3/2/2026