Bitcoin climbs to near $72,000 after Treasury Secretary Bessent attempts to calm oil fears

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Bitcoin climbs to near $72,000 after Treasury Secretary Bessent attempts to calm oil fears Bessent said the U.S. Treasury Department will provide temporary authorization to allow countries to purchase Russian oil currently in transit. By Stephen Alpher Mar 13, 2026, 12:38 a.m. Make us preferred on Google U.S. to allow Russian oil at sea to be sold (Gerhard Traschütz/Pixabay) With fears growing over the economic impact of surging oil costs, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday evening that the Trump administration is taking steps to promote stability and lower energy prices. "To increase the global reach of existing supply, the U.S. Treasury is providing a temporary authorization to permit countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea," said Bessent in an X post . "The temporary increase in oil prices is a short-term and temporary disruption that will result in a massive benefit to our nation and economy in the long-term," added Bessent, suggesting market fears about the rise in oil prices were overblown. Indeed, oil rose nearly 10% to nearly $100 per barrel on Thursday, helping to send the already slumping U.S. stock market to sharp losses. Bitcoin BTC $ 69,873.58 , which was able to hold the $70,000 level throughout most of the day, has jumped to just below $72,000 in the minutes following the Bessent post. WTi crude oil has pulled back about $2 per barrel, currently trading at $95.22. Bitcoin News Crude Oil Breaking News More For You Crypto investor turns $50 million into $36,000 in one botched move By Krisztian Sandor | Edited by Aoyon Ashraf 2 hours ago Aave founder Stani Kulechov said the interface displayed multiple slippage warnings, which the user manually accepted on a mobile device. What to know : A crypto trader lost about $50 million in a single transaction after swapping interest-bearing aEthUSDT for aEthAAVE through CoW Protocol. Large losses by slippage occasionally occur in decentralized finance (DeFi) when traders attempt to execute unusually large orders against shallow liquidity pools, with arbitrage bots exploiting the price dislocation. Aave founder Stani Kulechov said the interface had warned the user about extraordinary slippage and required explicit confirmation, which the user confirmed on their mobile device. Read full story Latest Crypto News Stricter MiCA rules could thin crypto industry across the EU, says Swiss wealth manager 1 hour ago Crypto investor turns $50 million into $36,000 in one botched move 2 hours ago SEC's advisory group backs tokenized securities push, outlines how to keep it safe 2 hours ago Donald Trump to hold another Mar-a-Lago lunch for his token holders 4 hours ago The Emperor has no wallet 7 hours ago U.S. Senate votes to ban CBDCs in housing bill that may face trouble in the House 8 hours ago Top Stories Bitcoin holds $70,000 level as surging oil prices and credit issues have stocks tumbling 8 hours ago Vitalik Buterin says Ethereum should be used as a simple digital bulletin board 9 hours ago Cathie Wood's Ark Invest says quantum computing is a long-term risk for bitcoin, not an imminent threat 9 hours ago BlackRock debuts staked ether ETF as demand grows for yield in crypto funds 12 hours ago Tether invests in Ark Labs to make Bitcoin ready for stablecoins and payments 11 hours ago Bitcoin selling intensifies across all wallet sizes despite price holding near $70,000 10 hours ago In this article BTC BTC $ 69,873.58 ◢ 0.59 %