First gold and silver, now oil's starting to rally and that's bad news for bitcoin

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email First gold and silver, now oil's starting to rally and that's bad news for bitcoin Higher oil prices could add to inflation, making it harder for the Fed to cut rates rapidly. By Omkar Godbole | Edited by Sam Reynolds Jan 29, 2026, 5:22 a.m. Make us preferred on Google Oil rally poses risk to bitcoin's price. What to know : WTI and Brent oil prices have surged by 12% this month. Higher oil prices could add to inflation, making it harder for the Fed to cut rates rapidly. BTC bulls are hopeful that rate cuts would arrive soon, lifting the market higher. For bitcoin BTC $ 88,119.97 bulls, it feels like one setback after another. First precious metals like gold and silver surged to record highs, sucking capital away from the crypto market. And now oil's starting to surge too, threatening to skew macroeconomic forces in favor of bitcoin bears. The per barrel price for the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, a type of light, sweet crude from Texas fields serving as benchmark for North American energy pricing, has risen by 12% to $64.30 this month. That's the highest price since September. It's European and international benchmark, Brent, has seen a similar rise to $68.22. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms & conditions and privacy policy . This is bad news for bitcoin bulls counting on steady inflation and lower rates to reignite the rally. Bitcoin peaked above $126,000 in early October and has since dropped to under $90,000. Oil feeds into inflation Oil is a key ingredient in everyday goods and services, so when its price rises, it raises costs across the board. Higher oil makes gasoline pricier raising transport costs for everything, including food deliveries, clothes, electronics and more. These costs are then passed on the final consumer, raising the general price level in the economy. This, in turn, leads to workers asking higher wages to keep up with rising inflation, leading to a self-fulfilling cycle where salaries climb, companies then raise prices even more. "We find that oil price pass-through to inflation is both economically and statistically significant, and that it occurs both directly and through second-round effects," Federal Reserve's explainer says. "Higher energy prices can also raise consumer and business expectations for future inflation, indirectly raising food and core prices now." Central banks typically react to rising inflation by hiking borrowing costs, making credit and money pricier across the board, just as the Fed did in 2022 when it rapidly raised interest rates to tame inflation. Bitcoin fell by 64% that year, with the so-called Fed tightening playing a major role in destabilizing the asset. The latest oil price upswing comes as the Fed grapples with fresh inflation worries. On Wednesday, the central bank kept interest rates unchanged in the target range of 4.5% to 4.75%, and said inflation remains “somewhat elevated” due to President Donald Trump's tariffs – taxes on goods imported from abroad. According to ING, the accompanying statement and press conference suggested that the Fed is "more confidence that the policy easing cycle is close to a conclusion." In other words, the Fed sees no rush to cut rates, and rising oil could firm up its stance against quick liquidity easing. Why is oil rallying? Fears of Trump striking Iran, a major oil producer, plus shrinking U.S. inventories are pushing oil prices higher. In a Truth Social post Wednesday, Trump said that a massive Armada was headed towards Iran and made references to Venezuela, which the US military raided early this month. He asked Iran to make a deal on nuclear weapons or face a "far worse" U.S. attack. Iran retaliated to Trump's threat by vowing to "respond like never before," while highlighting the human and economic cost of a potential U.S. adventure. At the same time, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data released Wednesday showed that oil inventories in the U.S. decreased by 2.3 million barrels during the week ended Jan. 24. Dropping oil inventories typically signal stronger demand outpacing supply, where refineries pull more from stocks to meet needs. Crude Oil Bitcoin News crypto markets More For You Pudgy Penguins: A New Blueprint for Tokenized Culture By CoinDesk Research Dec 30, 2025 Commissioned by Pudgy Penguins Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale. What to know : Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token. The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility. View Full Report More For You Meta and Microsoft continue going big on AI Spending. Here's how bitcoin miners could benefit By Helene Braun , AI Boost | Edited by Stephen Alpher 6 hours ago In its fourth quarter earnings report, Meta said capital spending plans for 2026 should be in the range of $115-$135 billion, well ahead of consensus forecasts. What to know : Fourth-quarter earnings results from Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META) suggested no slowdown in AI-related spending. Microsoft highlighted that AI is now one of its largest businesses and pointed to long-term growth. Meta projected sharply higher capital spending in 2026 to fund its Meta Super Intelligence Labs and core business. Read full story Latest Crypto News SEC clarifies rules for tokenized stocks, tightening scrutiny on synthetic equity 45 minutes ago Meta and Microsoft continue going big on AI Spending. Here's how bitcoin miners could benefit 6 hours ago World token jumps 27% as Sam Altman reportedly eyes a biometric social network to kill off bots 6 hours ago Bitcoin remains subdued as gold races to new record above $5,400 following Jerome Powell remarks 7 hours ago Tesla made no changes to bitcoin holdings in Q4 as it booked $239 million digital asset loss 8 hours ago Paxos' gold token rakes in record inflows as crypto investors turn to the yellow metal 9 hours ago Top Stories White House to meet with crypto, banking executives to discuss market structure bill 9 hours ago Federal Reserve holds policy steady as early rate cut bets vanish and bitcoin stalls 10 hours ago Crypto's political power supercharged with $193 million in Fairshake, thanks to new cash 10 hours ago Coinbase rolls out prediction markets to all U.S. customers 10 hours ago Robinhood CEO says tokenized stocks could prevent another GameStop freeze 13 hours ago Fidelity Investments starts its own stablecoin in a massive bet that future of banking is on blockchain 15 hours ago In this article BTC BTC $ 88,119.97 ◢ 0.99 %