Bitcoin falls below $76,500 as U.S. strikes on Iran push oil prices higher

Bitcoin fell below $76,500 on Tuesday, dropping 1% since midnight UTC and 3% over the past week. The decline came as U.S. strikes on Iranian targets pushed oil prices higher, with Brent crude rising past $93 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate nearing $90.

Higher energy costs lifted the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield toward 4.8%, while stock market futures for the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 also fell. The Dollar Index rose 0.13% since midnight, adding pressure on risk assets like cryptocurrencies.

Market movements and derivatives

Trading activity in crypto derivatives showed a shift toward bearish sentiment. Short positions accounted for 51.5% of the 24-hour trading volume, according to Coinglass data. Total trading volume rose 19% to $203 billion, but open interest—a measure of active contracts—remained steady at around $136 billion for a second day.

Bitcoin futures open interest stayed flat at about 700,000 BTC, suggesting traders are not adding leverage to bet against the falling market. Ether, however, saw a slight increase in open interest alongside its price drop, a sign that short positions may be building. Ether’s open interest reached 13.72 million tokens, the highest since August 18 but still below its May peak of 15.68 million.

Volatility expectations for both Bitcoin and Ether have calmed, with their 30-day implied volatility indexes erasing a mid-August spike. Options trading on Deribit showed mixed signals: the most traded Bitcoin contract was a $70,000 put expiring September 25, but the rest of the top five were call options, which are bullish bets. For Ether, the most traded contract was a $2,200 put expiring September 11, with most of the top five being puts, used to hedge against or profit from price declines.

Altcoin performance

Among alternative cryptocurrencies, or altcoins, Ether.fi (ETHFI) led with a 4.63% gain to around 58.9 cents. Privacy-focused coins Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC) also rose, with Monero up 2.27% to $516 and Zcash adding 1% to $824.63. Zcash has gained 71.23% over the past 30 days.

Arbitrum (ARB) extended its recent surge, rising 9.33% in 24 hours to 11.68 cents, partly driven by revenue flowing to the Arbitrum DAO treasury from the Robinhood Chain. Meanwhile, losses were led by Dash (DASH), which fell 4.72% to $41.82, and XRP, which dropped 1.72% to $1.3281, extending a weekly decline of 6.22%. Uniswap’s UNI token continued its rally, hitting a seven-month high of $6.37 with a 4% gain in 24 hours.

What is confirmed

• Bitcoin fell below $76,500, down 1% since midnight UTC and 3% over the past week.
• Brent crude oil rose past $93 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate approached $90.
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed toward 4.8%.
• Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.31%, and S&P 500 futures dropped 0.11%.
• The Dollar Index (DXY) rose 0.13% since midnight.
• Short positions accounted for 51.5% of the 24-hour trading volume in crypto derivatives.
• Bitcoin futures open interest remained unchanged at around 700,000 BTC.
• Ether’s open interest increased slightly to 13.72 million tokens.
• UNI’s price surged to a seven-month high of $6.37.

Why it matters

The rise in oil prices and Treasury yields suggests growing inflation concerns, which can reduce appetite for risk assets like Bitcoin and stocks. The shift in derivatives trading toward short positions indicates a bearish sentiment in the crypto market, though the lack of increased leverage in Bitcoin futures suggests traders are not aggressively betting against further declines.

Sources

• CoinDesk