What initially seemed like a negative day for cryptocurrency markets has turned around following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that he instructed his cabinet to initiate negotiations with Lebanon promptly. This development followed a report from NBC News indicating that President Trump had urged Netanyahu to reduce bombing in Lebanon, as it posed a risk to the ceasefire declared on Monday.
In response to this news, Bitcoin experienced a swift increase of approximately 3%, bringing its trading price up to $72,300—a 2% rise over the last 24 hours. U.S. stock markets also recovered from slight early losses, with the Nasdaq index now showing an increase of 0.65%. After reaching nearly $103 per barrel earlier in the day, WTI crude oil prices retracted back down to $98.60.
Bitcoin is significantly outperforming other major cryptocurrencies; ether (ETH), solana (SOL), and $XRP have all seen gains of less than 1%.
A Growing Disparity with Software Stocks
In recent months, Bitcoin and software stocks have been closely correlated; however, they began diverging again on Thursday. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV) dropped by 4%, nearing an important support level around $76—one it has tested and bounced back from several times before.
Over the past month, Bitcoin has risen by 9%, while IGV has declined by 12%.
The correlation coefficient between Bitcoin and IGV based on a 20-day moving average has fallen to a relatively low figure of 0.34, highlighting their recent divergence in price trends.
