Bitcoin & Dollar Rally Together: What’s Driving This Unusual Trend?

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<a href="https://jpygbp.com/btc-usd/">Bitcoin</a> takes aim at $74,000. Surprisingly, the dollar’s rallying too.

What to know:

By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

Bitcoin’s price is currently increasing at the same time as the U.S. dollar‘s value, a trend we’ve seen happen a few times since Donald Trump was elected in 2024.

Since the start of the conflict in the Middle East over the weekend, the price of the cryptocurrency has increased by more than 10%. Yesterday, it almost reached $74,000 and is currently up over 2% in the last day. Other major cryptocurrencies, like ether, XRP, and solana, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index, have also risen by 2% or more.

What’s interesting about this market rally isn’t just how much prices have gone up, but *when* it’s happening. It’s occurring while investors are generally avoiding risk in stocks, and at the same time, the dollar is getting stronger. The Dollar Index has risen over 1% this week, reaching a level it hasn’t seen since November.

This pairing might surprise some experts. Usually, a stronger dollar hurts assets priced in dollars, like bitcoin, and the two generally move in opposite ways.

The traditionally inverse relationship between Bitcoin (BTC) and the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) has been questioned repeatedly since Donald Trump’s return to office and his promises of policies favorable to cryptocurrency. Both BTC and the DXY increased in value before and after the election, then both decreased between March and April of 2025. Currently, both are experiencing a price increase again.

Demand for Bitcoin in the U.S. seems to be growing, which is a positive sign for the market. The Coinbase Premium Index, which compares prices on the U.S.-based Coinbase exchange to those on the Binance exchange, recently hit its highest level since December, reaching 0.0227%, according to Coinglass data. When prices are higher on Coinbase, it usually indicates greater interest from investors in the United States.

Currently, all eyes are on whether the cryptocurrency can break through the $74,000 level, which has proven to be a key point for its price. If it successfully does, it would likely increase investor confidence and attract more buyers.

Some traders are also watching the U.S. macroeconomy.

According to Vikram Subburaj, CEO of Giottus.com, several upcoming economic reports could cause market fluctuations, including crypto. The US jobs report is due March 6th, followed by inflation data on March 11th, and a Federal Reserve meeting on March 17th and 18th.

I’m seeing a lot of analysts still being careful, and honestly, I am too. This recent peace in oil prices feels a little shaky to me – it’s heavily reliant on the U.S. guaranteeing safe passage for tankers, and that feels like a temporary fix. I’m not convinced it’s going to last.

Economist Robin Brooks recently warned that a single Iranian rocket strike could quickly destabilize the region. He emphasized that the threat is ongoing and won’t disappear quickly. It’s a situation that requires careful monitoring.

What to Watch

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.

  • Crypto
    • Nothing scheduled.
  • Macro
    • March 5, 8:30 a.m.: U.S. initial jobless claims for week ending Feb. 28 (Prev. 212K)
    • March 5, 8:30 a.m.: U.S. nonfarm productivity QoQ prel for Q4 (Prev. 4.9%)
    • March 5, 4:30 p.m.: U.S. Fed balance sheet update for period ending March 4
  • Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
    • March 5: Rumble (RUM), post-market, -$0.10

Token Events

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.

Conferences

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.

  • Day 2 of 3: Quant 2026 (Varese, Italy)

Market Movements

  • BTC is down 0.13% from 4 p.m. ET Wednesday at $72,849.18 (24hrs: +2.42%)
  • ETH is down 1.08% at $2,135.84 (24hrs: +3.81%)
  • CoinDesk 20 is down 1.25% at 2,072.03 (24hrs: +2.75%)
  • Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is up 6 bps at 2.91%
  • BTC funding rate is at 0.0026% (2.8744% annualized) on Binance

  • DXY is down 0.12% at 98.99
  • Gold futures are up 1.06% at $5,174.30
  • Silver futures are up 2.28% at $84.51
  • Nikkei 225 closed up 1.90% at 55,278.06
  • Hang Seng closed up 0.28% at 25,321.34
  • FTSE 100 is up 0.30% at 10,598.92
  • Euro Stoxx 50 is up 0.13% at 5,878.37
  • DJIA closed on Wednesday up 0.49% at 48,739.41
  • S&P 500 closed up 0.78% at 6,869.50
  • Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.29% at 22,807.48
  • S&P/TSX Composite closed up 0.47% at 33,942.90
  • S&P 40 Latin America closed up 2.26% at 3,619.17
  • U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate is up 3 bps at 4.08%
  • E-mini S&P 500 futures are unchanged at 6,870.50
  • E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are unchanged at 25,113.50
  • E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 0.18% at 48,710.00

Bitcoin Stats

  • BTC Dominance: 59.78% (0.9%)
  • Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.02938 (0.38%)
  • Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 999 EH/s
  • Hashprice (spot): $32.09
  • Total fees: 3.03 BTC / $215,909
  • CME Futures Open Interest: 111,485 BTC
  • BTC priced in gold: 14.1 oz.
  • BTC vs gold market cap: 4.88%

Technical Analysis

  • The chart from Coinglass shows daily open interest in zcash (ZEC) futures.
  • Open interest refers to the number of active futures contracts at any given time.
  • The tally has increased to nearly 1.50 million ZEC, rising past a downtrend line.
  • The breakout indicates renewed interest in ZEC futures and higher volatility ahead.

Crypto Equities

  • Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on Wednesday at $208.93 (+14.57%), +0.10% at $209.14 in pre-market
  • Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $24.34 (+17.70%)
  • MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $9.29 (+7.27%), –0.22% at $9.27
  • Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $16.53 (+8.11%), +0.24% at $16.57
  • Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $15.84 (+3.53%)
  • CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $10.66 (+7.79%), –0.75% at $10.58
  • Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $12.16 (+12.28%), unchanged in pre-market
  • CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF (WGMI): closed at $41.20 (+8.76%)
  • Circle Internet Group (CRCL): closed at $105.27 (+5.66%), unchanged in pre-market
  • Bullish (BLSH): closed at $36.86 (+11.29%), –0.49% at $36.68

Crypto Treasury Companies

  • Strategy (MSTR): closed at $146.44 (+10.37%), –0.30% at $146.00
  • Sharplink (SBET): closed at $8.13 (+11.98%), –1.60% at $8.00
  • Upexi (UPXI): closed at $1.08 (+37.58%), +1.85% at $1.10
  • Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.22 (+6.09%)
  • Strive Asset Management (ASST): closed at $9.62 (+15.49%), +0.73% at $9.69

ETF Flows

Spot BTC ETFs

  • Daily net flows: $461.9 million
  • Cumulative net flows: $55.93 billion
  • Total BTC holdings ~ 1.29 million

Spot ETH ETFs

  • Daily net flows: $169.4 million
  • Cumulative net flows: $11.83 billion
  • Total ETH holdings ~ 5.79 million

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2026-03-05 15:37