Gold prices fell 2% on Thursday, 26 March 2026, as crude prices once again rose above $106, reigniting concerns about rising inflation, with investors mostly pricing out any chance of US interest rate cuts this year.
As Middle East tensions escalate following US-Israel strikes on Iran in late February, crude oil and gold have emerged as 2026's dominant assets, while Bitcoin languishes as the year's worst major performer.
BTC USD, which posted 153% gains over the past year, has stabilized between $65,000 and $70,000 after dipping to $62,800 in early February.
Bitcoin's tumble is the latest chapter in a turbulent 2026, following a brutal correction from approximately $90,000 to $60,033 between January 28 and February 11, the steepest decline since the 2022 FTX collapse.
The cryptocurrency now trades 52% below its $126,000 all-time high from October 2025.
Investors have favored traditional "crisis anchors" like gold and the USD over Bitcoin for much of early 2026.
Is Bitcoin's 'Digital Gold' Narrative Fractured?
"Bitcoin has decisively outperformed traditional assets over the past decade," notes CoinGecko Head of Research Zhong Yang Chan. Over five years, Bitcoin has gained 1,284% compared to gold's 85% and the S&P 500's 97%. Yet short-term volatility reveals vulnerabilities as investors flee to traditional safe havens during crises.
But, Bitcoin's correlation with gold has flipped dramatically.
Oil's surge compounds Bitcoin's challenges by driving inflation expectations higher and increasing mining costs. Since 2020, Bitcoin has maintained an 80%+ correlation with tech stocks, underscoring its reliance on liquidity conditions rather than commodity dynamics.
Why is Crypto Down Today? Bitcoin Drops Below $70K, Ethereum Follows Suit | Crypto Watch Desk
failure to maintain support risks a retest of $65,000 or lower
Bitcoin's decline stems from multiple converging factors: macro shocks, institutional de-risking, crypto capitulation, and structural weaknesses.
Nearly half of the circulating BTC is held at a loss, and Bitcoin breached its 365-day moving average for the first time since March 2022.
The Federal Reserve's March 19 meeting provided the latest trigger. While holding rates steady, the Fed issued its most hawkish signal in over a year, flagging a possible April rate hike. This sparked Bitcoin's selloff to $70,000 in the eighth of nine 'sell-the-news' Federal Open Market Committee patterns.
Geopolitical tensions intensified pressure. Iran's strike on Qatar's largest gas facility sent oil prices up, contributing to risk-off sentiment across markets. Recent positives like BTC ETF inflows offered only fleeting relief.
The $70,000 level has emerged as critical support. A sustained hold above this threshold could signal a corrective pullback within a broader uptrend, targeting $74,000-$76,000. However, failure to maintain support risks a retest of $65,000 or lower.