While equity markets took a beating and Brent crude surged above $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022, crypto is doing the opposite. Escalating Middle East tensions and a blockage in the Strait of Hormuz sent traditional risk assets into freefall, yet the total crypto market cap climbed 2.57% to $2.46 trillion on March 13.
Bitcoin is sitting at $72,479, up 2.91% in 24 hours. Ethereum at $2,127, up 2.72%. On a day when almost nothing else was green, this is interesting.
Crypto’s correlation with the S&P 500 currently sits at -14%, and against Gold it’s -34%. That is evidence that this rally wasn’t carried by broad market optimism.
Intergovernmental Blockchain advisor Anndy Lian noted that “digital assets are beginning to trade on their own fundamental narratives,” arguing this kind of independence signals a maturation that the asset class has long needed to evolve beyond its speculative ties to traditional finance.
Also Read: Did the Clarity Act Pass? Not Yet, But Banks Are Already Buying These 8 Altcoins
The most significant catalyst was BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB), which debuted on Nasdaq on March 12 with $15.5 million in first-day volume.
Unlike previous crypto ETFs, ETHB gives investors both price exposure and staking rewards – repositioning Ethereum as a yield-bearing asset rather than a speculative play. Staking also locks up supply, which mechanically reduces sell-side pressure over time.
Render is up 13.37% to $1.81, Layer 1 tokens advanced 1.58%, and Bitcoin dominance held steady at 58.78%, suggesting fresh capital is flowing into the broader market rather than concentrating in Bitcoin alone.
Analyst Michaël van de Poppe remains bullish, saying he expects Bitcoin to “test the highs and continue to rally towards $75,000 during this month.”
On the regulatory front, the US Senate passed a bill on March 12 blocking the Federal Reserve from issuing a retail CBDC – a clear signal of Washington’s direction on digital assets. Separately, unconfirmed reports of a zero percent crypto tax are circulating on social media, and markets appear to be pricing that in too.
The total crypto market cap is currently at $2.43T, up 2.35% on the day. With RSI sitting at a neutral 56 on the daily chart, there’s no immediate technical ceiling – the question now is whether sustained ETF inflows and policy clarity can keep the momentum going against a backdrop of rising oil and macro uncertainty.
Crypto rose as geopolitical tensions hit stocks and oil surged. Lower correlation with equities suggests digital assets are moving on their own market drivers.
Key drivers include ETF inflows, institutional adoption, staking demand, improving regulation signals, and growing use cases across the crypto and blockchain ecosystem.
Altcoins are rising because fresh capital is entering crypto markets, not just Bitcoin. This broad inflow supports growth across multiple blockchain projects.
The Solana price faced significant upward pressure as the broader market sentiments turned bearish following…
The crypto market March 2026 wasn’t driven by shiny upgrades or bullish hype cycles, per…
For years, the knock on traditional banking has been simple: markets move around the clock,…
A tokenization platform closed a $100 million vault for a gold linked stablecoin in under…
The ETH price is booming under the hood while barely moving where it actually counts.…
The crypto market has been facing significant upward pressure ever since Trump announced the re-escalation…
