Bitcoin nears $72,000, marking a one-month high as investors seek safety.

Bitcoin rose to a one-month high near $71,800 as investors rotated into perceived haven assets amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, while the broader altcoin market also showed signs of renewed strength.

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization climbed to $71,800, pushing aside the risk-off sentiment that has recently limited gains in U.S. equities. Prices briefly approached the $72,000 level, which bitcoin last touched on Feb. 8 before retreating to around $65,000.

Traditional safe-haven assets also advanced during the session. Gold gained roughly 1.8% and silver jumped about 5.3% since midnight UTC on Wednesday, while bitcoin posted a 4.8% increase over the same timeframe.

The shift toward haven assets comes as geopolitical tensions intensify in the Middle East. Israel said it carried out strikes on multiple security headquarters inside Iran, while Iran reportedly launched attacks targeting U.S. sites in Dubai and Qatar. Equity markets have remained mostly unchanged since midnight, underperforming the broader crypto market.

Derivatives positioning strengthens

Data from derivatives markets suggests traders are increasing exposure as prices rise.

Global crypto futures open interest increased about 8% in the past 24 hours to nearly $103 billion. Trading volume also rose, though at a slower pace than open interest, suggesting market participants are adding and holding positions rather than actively rotating trades. This trend supports the recent price rebound.

Open interest in futures tied to the top 10 cryptocurrencies also climbed, with dogecoin leading the increase at roughly 10%.

Funding rates for perpetual futures and cumulative volume delta across major cryptocurrencies — including bitcoin and ether — have turned positive, indicating growing buying pressure and reinforcing expectations of continued recovery.

At the same time, 30-day implied volatility for bitcoin and ether options remains near levels seen before the Middle East conflict escalated, suggesting the market is not experiencing widespread panic.

On the Deribit exchange, put options for both BTC and ETH still trade at a premium to calls, reflecting ongoing hedging against potential downside risks.

The most actively traded option over the past day has been the $125,000 bitcoin call expiring at the end of March. According to Deribit, most of the activity likely represents traders closing short positions rather than opening new bullish bets.

Large block trades showed demand for bitcoin call spreads and call ratio spreads, signaling moderately bullish positioning. For ether, traders were active in both call and put spreads.

Altcoins show renewed momentum

The altcoin market is beginning to recover after nearly a month of consolidation.

Ether gained about 5% since midnight UTC, with daily trading volumes holding steady at around $25 billion.

Lower-liquidity tokens significantly outperformed the major cryptocurrencies. KITE, AERO and TAO posted double-digit gains over the past 24 hours, while tokens such as PUMP and DCR advanced roughly 6%.

Market sentiment has also improved slightly. The crypto Fear and Greed Index has climbed from a multi-year low of 5/100 in February to 19/100, indicating that cautious optimism is starting to return to the market.

Among sector benchmarks, the CoinDesk Computing Select Index was the top performer over the past day, rising around 7%. Meanwhile, the bitcoin-weighted CoinDesk 20 Index gained roughly 5% during the same period.