CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - A rebound in the prices of crude oil on Thursday attributed to renewed worries about a quick end to the Middle East war dragged down cryptocurrencies. Gold and stocks also declined while bond yields and the Dollar Index rallied. Reports of Bitcoin sales by Mara Holdings, one of the leading Bitcoin Treasuries also spooked market sentiment.
Brent Oil Futures for June settlement are currently trading at $101.67, having gained 4.5 percent on an overnight basis. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude Oil Futures for May settlement has also erased 4.07 percent overnight to trade at $94.00. Monthly gains now exceed 40 percent. Brent crude had touched a high of $119.5 and WTI crude had risen to a high of $113.41 on March 9.
Mara Holdings (MARA) a publicly traded Bitcoin miner on Thursday announced that, between March 4 and March 25, 2026, it has sold 15,133 Bitcoin for an aggregate sale price of approximately $1.1 billion. The proceeds from the bitcoin sales are intended to fund the repurchase of senior notes due in 2030 and 2031. Though the company has claimed that the action reflects a strategic capital allocation move designed to strengthen its balance sheet, position the company for long-term growth as well as reduce potential shareholder dilution, the large, concentrated sales from a major industry participant has rattled sentiment. The company also indicated its plans to expand beyond pure-play bitcoin mining into digital energy and AI/HPC infrastructure.
Amidst risk aversion in global markets and the reports of Bitcoin sale by MARA Holdings, CoinMarketCap's Fear and Greed Index dropped to 30 from 35 a day earlier. Both the readings in the tool to measure crypto market sentiment relate to the 'fear' territory.
Data from Coinglass shows long positions surpassing short positions in the 24-hour liquidation statistics, implying a selloff. Crypto liquidations - forced closure of a trader's leveraged position by an exchange or lending protocol for insufficient funds (margin or collateral) to cover potential losses - in the past 24 hours stood at $254 million comprising long positions of $206 million and short positions of $48 million.
Overall cryptocurrency market capitalization decreased close to 3 percent overnight while crude oil prices rallied more than 4 percent overnight. The dollar's strength also weighed on sentiment. Bitcoin touched a 24-hour low of $69,184.19 whereas Ethereum recorded a low of $2,064.74 during the same period.
With cryptocurrencies responding to the macro and industry-level developments, overall market capitalization has declined 2.9 percent in the past 24 hours to $2.37 trillion. The 24-hour trading volume has dropped 9 percent to $86 billion. Only 4 of the top 100 cryptocurrencies are trading with overnight gains of more than a percent whereas 78 are trading with overnight losses of more than a percent.
Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency is trading 2.5 percent lower at $69,239.07. The current price is around 45 percent below the all-time high of $126,198.07 recorded on October 7, 2025. The original cryptocurrency has lost 0.8 percent in the past week and is saddled with losses of 20.9 percent till date in 2026.
Bitcoin Spot ETF products in the U.S. witnessed net inflows of $8 million on Wednesday versus net outflows of $75 million on Tuesday. While Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) recorded net inflows of $83 million, market leader iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) witnessed net outflows of $71 million.
Bitcoin is continuing in the 13th position in the global ranking of all assets as per market capitalization published by companiesmarketcap.com.
Ethereum (ETH) dropped 4.5 percent overnight as it traded at $2,069.11. The leading alternate coin is trading 58 percent below the all-time-high of $4,953.73 recorded on August 25, 2025.
Ethereum Spot ETF products in the U.S. witnessed net outflows decreasing to $9 million on Wednesday from $41 million on Tuesday. While Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH) topped with net inflows of $24 million, market leader iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) topped with net outflows of $33 million.
Meanwhile, Ethereum has slipped 5 notches to the 68th position in the global ranking of all assets as per market capitalization published by companiesmarketcap.com.
4th ranked BNB (BNB) lost 2.8 percent overnight resulting in price decreasing to $628.99. BNB is trading 54 percent below the all-time high of $1,370.55 touched on October 13, 2025.
5th ranked XRP (XRP) erased 3.4 percent overnight and is currently trading at $1.36, around 64 percent below the all-time high of $3.84 touched on January 4, 2018.
The price of 7th ranked Solana (SOL) decreased 4.9 percent overnight to $87.35. SOL's current price is around 70 percent below its all-time-high of $294.33 recorded on January 19, 2025.
TRON (TRX) ranked 8th overall edged up 0.01 percent overnight and is currently changing hands at $0.3108. The trading price is 29 percent below the cryptocurrency's all-time high of $0.4407 recorded on December 4, 2024.
9th ranked Dogecoin (DOGE) plunged 5.4 percent overnight and is currently trading at $0.0915. DOGE is trading 88 percent below the peak price of $0.7376 recorded on May 8, 2021.
10th ranked Hyperliquid (HYPE) slipped more than 2 percent in the past 24 hours to trade at $39.54, around 33 percent below the all-time high of $59.39 recorded on September 18, 2025.
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