Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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Bitcoin traded near $64,200 on Monday, up 3% over the past week despite mixed market sentiment.
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Ethereum outperformed major cryptocurrencies, climbing 5% to around $1,860.
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Rising oil prices fueled by escalating Middle East tensions have revived inflation concerns, weighing on risk assets.
Bitcoin traded close to $64,200 on Monday as investors weighed the opposing effects of escalating geopolitical tensions and continued uncertainty surrounding the artificial intelligence sector.
The world's largest cryptocurrency was little changed over the past 24 hours but remained about 3% higher compared with a week ago. Trading volume reached roughly $18 billion, reflecting cautious participation amid mixed macroeconomic signals.
While inflation fears resurfaced following a surge in oil prices, weakness in AI-related technology stocks also continued to influence broader market sentiment.
Ethereum Outperforms While Most Major Cryptocurrencies Remain Range-Bound
Among leading digital assets, Ethereum (ETH) posted the strongest weekly performance, rising around 5% to trade near $1,860.
Most other large-cap cryptocurrencies saw limited movement. XRP held around $1.09, Solana (SOL) traded near $76, BNB slipped to approximately $565, and Dogecoin (DOGE) remained steady around $0.07.
Hyperliquid (HYPE) was the weakest performer among major tokens, falling roughly 10% over the past week to around $60, extending recent losses despite the absence of any project-specific catalyst.
Crude oil remained the dominant driver of global market sentiment after renewed military escalation involving the United States and Iran pushed energy prices sharply higher.
Brent crude climbed as much as 4% to $91.42 per barrel, reaching its highest level since June as the conflict expanded beyond military targets.
The rally reversed some of the optimism created earlier this month by softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data, reigniting concerns that higher energy prices could fuel inflation and complicate the Federal Reserve's path toward future interest rate cuts.
For cryptocurrencies and other risk assets, persistently high inflation generally reduces expectations for monetary easing, limiting investor appetite for speculative investments.
AI Disruption Continues to Pressure Technology Stocks
Technology markets are also continuing to absorb the impact of Moonshot AI's Kimi K3, an open-weight AI model unveiled last week.
The Chinese-developed model topped a widely followed coding benchmark, triggering a broad selloff in semiconductor stocks on Friday as investors reassessed competitive dynamics within the AI industry.
The weakness extended into Asian markets on Monday, with South Korea's Kospi Index falling 3.5% after local markets reopened following a holiday.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures recovered modestly, with Nasdaq 100 futures gaining about 0.5%, although uncertainty surrounding AI spending remains elevated.
Bitcoin has shown a relatively strong correlation with AI-related technology stocks in recent weeks, meaning continued weakness in semiconductor shares could weigh on cryptocurrency prices.
With no significant U.S. economic data scheduled this week, investor attention has shifted toward corporate earnings from major technology companies.
Key reports include:
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Tuesday: Alphabet
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Wednesday: Tesla
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Thursday: Intel
These earnings are expected to provide fresh insight into corporate AI investment, semiconductor demand, and capital expenditure trends.
Strong results could help restore confidence in AI-related assets and support broader risk sentiment, while disappointing guidance may increase pressure across both technology stocks and cryptocurrencies.
For now, Bitcoin remains caught between two opposing narratives. Higher oil prices and renewed geopolitical tensions are fueling inflation concerns that could delay Federal Reserve policy easing, creating headwinds for risk assets.
At the same time, uncertainty surrounding the AI sector has weakened semiconductor stocks—another market segment that Bitcoin has closely tracked in recent weeks.
Whether cryptocurrencies extend their recent gains or resume their decline may depend less on economic data and more on how the technology sector performs during the current earnings season.
