Bitcoin shoots above $72,000 as optimism grows over Middle East ceasefire

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Bitcoin shoots above $72,000 as optimism grows over Middle East ceasefire Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly has signaled a willingness to negotiate with Lebanon. By Helene Braun , James Van Straten | Edited by Stephen Alpher Apr 9, 2026, 4:06 p.m. Make preferred on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Amir Levy/Getty Images) What to know : Down earlier on Thursday as oil rose alongside growing questions about the supposed ceasefire in Iran, bitcoin reversed higher after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government would pursue negotiations with Lebanon over disarming Hezbollah. Bitcoin's gain continued a recent divergence from software stocks, with the cryptocurrency up about 9% over the past month while the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF is down 12%. What appeared to be a down day in crypto markets has turned positive after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he told his cabinet to start negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible. This came after NBC News reported that President Trump had requested Netanyahu scale back bombing in Lebanon as it threatened Monday's announced ceasefire. Bitcoin quickly rose about 3% as the news hit, now trading at $72,300, up 2% over the past 24 hours. U.S. stocks also reversed modest early losses, with the Nasdaq now ahead 0.65%. Having surged to nearly $103 per barrel earlier in the day, WTI crude oil quickly pulled back to $98.60. Bitcoin is notably outperforming other crypto majors, with ether (ETH), solana (SOL) and XRP (XRP) all higher by less than 1%. Continued divergence with software stocks Firmly linked at the hip in recent months, bitcoin and software stocks continued to diverge on Thursday. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV) fell 4%, approaching a key support level around $76, a level it has tested and rebounded from multiple times. Over the past month, bitcoin is up 9%, while IGV is down 12%. On a 20-day moving average basis, the correlation coefficient between Bitcoin and IGV has dropped to a relatively low 0.34, reinforcing the r ecent divergence in their price movements. Source: CoinDesk/TradingView Bitcoin News More For You Encryption Supremacy: Zcash and Privacy in the Age of Scale By CoinDesk Research Mar 31, 2026 Commissioned by GenZcash Most crypto privacy models weaken as blockchain data grows. Encryption-based models like Zcash strengthen. CoinDesk Research maps the five privacy approaches and examines the widening gap. Why it matters : As blockchain adoption scales, the metadata available to machine learning models scales with it. Obfuscation-based privacy approaches are structurally degrading as a result. This report provides a comprehensive comparison of all five major crypto privacy architectures and a framework for evaluating which models remain durable as AI capabilities improve. View Full Report More For You Tom Lee's Bitmine uplists to NYSE, expands buyback authorization to $4 billion By Helene Braun , AI Boost | Edited by Stephen Alpher 1 hour ago The company holds nearly 4% of ether's (ETH) total supply, but shares have struggled alongside that crypto. What to know : Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) began trading on the New York Stock Exchange after moving from the NYSE American. The company lifted its share repurchase authorization to $4 billion from $1 billion. Bitmine now holds about 4.8 million ether, or nearly 4 percent of total supply, making its balance sheet highly... Read full story Latest Crypto News Crypto for Advisors: Crypto’s Performance Q1 1 hour ago Stablecoin volumes to reach $719T by 2035 as generational wealth shift speeds up crypto adoption 1 hour ago Tom Lee's Bitmine uplists to NYSE, expands buyback authorization to $4 billion 1 hour ago Trump's World Liberty Financial borrowed millions from a protocol its own advisor co-founded 1 hour ago BitMEX co-founder donates $5 million to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party 1 hour ago Mike Novogratz spotlights Helios as $15 billion powerhouse in Galaxy Digital annual report 2 hours ago Top Stories Bitcoin stalls below key resistance as analysts clash over next move 5 hours ago The $21 billion AI bet: Meta and CoreWeave ink deal for NVIDIA’s next-gen superchips 3 hours ago Binance adds prediction market to its app for millions of users 2 hours ago Fartcoin's price crashed 50% after $145 million manipulation bet went wrong 4 hours ago Iran's crypto tanker tolls are the latest step in its sanctions‑busting trade network 7 hours ago Everyone’s awaiting U.S. inflation figures, but bitcoin traders couldn’t care less 7 hours ago