Bitcoin Shows Resilience as Middle East Tensions Rise

• Bitcoin shows limited impact from U.S.–Iran tensions, holding steady amid volatility. 
• Oil-linked perpetual OI on Hyperliquid jumps to $50 million in March.
• Crypto remains in a macro bear phase; an analyst says BTC may form a lower high.

The ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict has made a limited impact on Bitcoin (BTC) so far. Although the conflict is still in its early stages, Bitcoin’s price has traded higher than before the Middle East crisis began.

The flagship coin has surged over 7% in the past seven days, trading at about $68.074 on March 3, 2026, according to CoinGecko. As such, the total crypto market cap has rebounded slightly to hover around $2.4 trillion at press time.

Bitcoin Shows Resilience Amid Middle East Crisis

As the Middle East crisis began, Bitcoin led the wider altcoin industry into a slight selloff. However, the flagship coin has quickly rebounded, signaling its resilience amid macroeconomic uncertainty. 

However, Bitcoin has suffered low bullish momentum due to the low capital inflows. Moreover, the United States Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and Digital Assets Treasuries (DATs) have seen lower capital inflows over the past few weeks than last year.

For instance, the U.S. spot BTC ETFs have recorded a net cash outflow of nearly $6.2 billion in the past four months, according to market data from SoSoValue. Nonetheless, Bitcoin’s investment products recorded a net cash inflow of about $787 million last week.

Meanwhile, the demand for traditional commodities through tokenized assets on web3 products has been on the rise. According to Hydromancer, the Open Interest for oil-linked perpetual contracts settled with Circle’s USDC on Hyperliquid surged to nearly $50 million in March, from below $10 million in February 2026.

What’s Next for Crypto?

The wider crypto market remains largely trapped in a macro bear outlook. From a technical analysis perspective, Bitcoin has led the wider altcoin industry in its performance during the 2022 bear market, which was catalyzed by the Terra Luna collapse and marked by the FTX bankruptcy.

In the daily timeframe, Bitcoin price is likely to form a lower high similar to its early 2022 fractal pattern, according to market analyst Benjamin Cowen. Furthermore, he argued that bear markets often take a while to play out, thus leading to heavy liquidation.

Related: Iranian Crypto Outflows Surge 700% After U.S.-Israeli Strikes