Bitcoin nears the $75,000 level, marking a nearly 25% recovery from its February bottom.

Bitcoin Tops $74K as Cooling Oil Prices Boost Risk Assets

Crypto markets and U.S. equities moved higher to start the week as easing tensions around the Strait of Hormuz helped pull oil prices lower and improve risk sentiment.

Bitcoin climbed above $74,000, touching $74,500 in early U.S. trading—its highest level since early February—and gaining about 3.9% over the past 24 hours. The move marks a breakout from a six-week consolidation range, lifting sentiment across the broader crypto market and fueling demand for higher-risk altcoins.

U.S. stocks also rebounded, with the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 each rising more than 1% after recent losses.

Oil, which has been a major driver of recent volatility, retreated sharply. Crude futures fell roughly 4% on Monday after briefly surpassing $100 per barrel over the weekend following Iranian strikes on energy infrastructure.

The pullback comes as geopolitical tensions appear to ease slightly. Donald Trump called for international cooperation to secure the key shipping route, while reports indicated that some tankers had resumed transit through the strait, suggesting disruptions may be limited.

Crypto-related equities also posted gains. Circle rose around 6%, while Strategy and Coinbase advanced roughly 5% and 3%, respectively.

AI Partnership Lifts Mining Stocks

In parallel, Nebius announced a major partnership with Meta valued at up to $27 billion, one of the largest AI infrastructure deals this year.

The five-year agreement includes about $12 billion in dedicated AI compute capacity, built using systems from NVIDIA, to support Meta’s growing artificial intelligence workloads.

Shares of Nebius jumped about 13% following the news, while Meta gained approximately 2.5%.

The deal lifted sentiment across AI infrastructure and data center companies, with spillover into bitcoin-linked stocks. IREN rose 6%, Galaxy Digital gained 8%, and Cipher Mining advanced 7%.

Meanwhile, TeraWulf secured a $500 million, 364-day bridge financing facility led by Morgan Stanley to fund development of its Kentucky data center. Shares climbed roughly 12% following the announcement.

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